TwiddleGeek

This game is seriously more fun than it deserves to be. It’s simplistic, it lacks online play, and it’s a pack-in sports title… but it really is great fun. In fact, I’d say it’s currently the best game out for the Wii. (Which is rather sad, honestly.) Had it not come packed in, I likely would have brought it at the full price. But since it did, I can forgive the lack of online play and perhaps hope for such additions in a retail sequel some day.

Of course the control scheme is what really makes things fun, but the game design caters to the control perfectly. The simplistic gameplay is just in-depth enough to make you feel in control, yet on auto-pilot for all the annoying details. Take baseball, where all you worry about is hitting the ball while base running, fielding, and so forth is controlled by the AI. Another good example is tennis, where running the court is done for you and you need merely to swing.

While this sounds hopelessly cradled, it works in practice. Rather than focusing your energy on running around the court with the nunchuck, you can focus on your forehand / backhand swing. And really, this only works if you get up and actually swing. To paraphrase Penny-Arcade: couch players are tools. And truthfully, it does make the arms sore after awhile — but like a good round of DDR, it’s worth it.

I still find myself fairly well entertained by Wii Sports, though having played for awhile longer now I’m getting a clearer picture of its strengths and weaknesses. And speaking of a clearer picture, the S-Video hookup sure does look sharper, cleaner, and brighter. But back to the game, the greatest strength is obviously just how easy it is to pick up and play, coupled with the new control scheme. On a standard controller, I really wouldn’t care very much about any of these games. On the Wiimote though, the imagination is tricked into feeling like you’re doing something more in-depth than merely pressing A… or in this case, shaking a controller.

I think that’s one area where the Wii is succeeding so far, imagination. Older generation games left a lot of holes for the viewer to fill in, but we did it without even thinking about it. Unfortunately, there’s still a bit of a disconnect between the controller and the screen. It’s frustrating when my punches don’t quite go where I placed them, or how the tennis ball direction is determined by timing, rather than angle or force. For the Wiimote to become more than a novelty, future games need to tighten up the 1:1 ratio between the player and the screen.

The lack of online play in Wii Sports and other launch titles is quite disappointing, but Nintendo still to this day doesn’t truly understand that gamers want it, and they absolutely hate friend codes. I find the main thing keeping me playing right now is trying to reach the Pro level on all 5 sports, after which I’m unlikely to play more than the occasional round during some downtime. Not all of us have local gamer friends.

I thought I’d expand on some thoughts on Red Steel that I didn’t want tangent off on in the review. First in my mind are the cutscenes. Wow, I really hated those things. As if the accent heavy acting wasn’t bad enough, the moving picture style of the cutscenes just plain sucked. It tried to be stylistic, but in doing so just ended up pathetic. Add in the fact that cutscenes are unskippable and sometimes come right before tough fights, and I wanted to kick a puppy every time anybody opened their mouth in this game.

This game can be utterly cheap to boot. So many times I died because I was being shot, but had absolutely no idea where from. Then, after dying 3 times, I finally spot the sniper hiding 200 yards away behind a ledge on the rooftop. It could have just as easily been a guy standing just over my left shoulder, because the sound positioning in this game is absolutely terrible. And speaking of cheap, disarming the gang leader and having the entire freaking squad drop their weapons is just jaw dropping dumb. … (Read More)

I felt like a fool playing this game, but I have to admit it really did make me laugh. If this thing had some decent replay value or simply lasted longer, I would have had no problem giving it a 3/5. One evening of play is just too short to give it a stronger recommendation. Frankly, I’ve always found these games highly overrated, I never could understand the mass appeal. Even GameSpot gives this thing a 9.1.

For casual and group gamers, there are better party games out there. Most of the mini-games are just repeats with slightly different graphics. Some of the motions still don’t always register like they should and the entire thing just feels sloppy. The various grips is a great idea though, perhaps the funniest part, and I’ll admit I had more fun than with the portable versions. But overall, it’s still a highly overrated title.