E3 08 Hands-On Preview: Wii Sports Resort

by Rangebar Merani on July 15, 2008 at 6:15 pm

I was lucky enough to get my hands on another one of Nintendo’s newest games revealed at E3, Wii Sports Resort.

Just like the original Wii Sports, players must first choose a Mii character and then they can play a number of different mini-games. It could’ve been called Wii Sports 2, but I guess that would have been too easy. The Resort name represents the games environment which is, according to Andrew, “literally a day at the beach”.

Wii Sports Resort uses the new add-on accessory, the Wii MotionPlus, to play. The Wii MotionPlus is supposed to make your wrist and arm movements more sensitive and more accurate as well. And after playing through the three available mini-games, I can say the device really does make a difference.

The first mini-game I played was a Jet Ski game, in which I held the Nunchuk and Wii Remote horizontally like I was, well, holding on to Jet Ski handlebars. I would just tilt to the left and right to direct my Mii towards the checkpoints until I reached the finish line. The mini-game was pretty fun and was easy to control, but I was ready to try the next one.

The second mini-game I played was a sword dueling game, where I used the Wii Remote like a sword. I was told to hold the Wii Remote with two hands, but I thought it was easier and more fun to play with one.

I played against some random dude and the objective of the mini-game was to knock your opponent off the platform and into the water. Before the fight began a piece of wood and then a large pencil dropped down in front of my Mii, I’m guessing it was just to practice our swinging.

Using both horizontal and vertical sword swings, it’s easy to get caught up in just swinging your Wii Remote like crazy, which a lot of people are probably going to do. But there actually was a block button, the B button, in which you can fend off your opponent’s attacks and counterattack.

The third and final mini-game I played was a Frisbee throwing game, which had me tossing the disc to a puppy. Aww, how cute.

The objective of the game was to get the Frisbee to the puppy at the designated area on the beach. Before I tossed the Frisbee, there was an arrow with the puppy’s face on it letting me know where to toss the Frisbee. The closer I got to the area the easier it was for the puppy to catch and the more points I was rewarded.

The Frisbee game is really fun too, because you get to challenge yourself and your friends to see who can get the highest score by accurately tossing the Frisbee to the puppy’s location. Sadly, you can’t play with other players simultaneously, but instead will have to take turns.

Wii Sports Resort will have more mini-games to play, but they haven’t been released yet.
I’m actually looking forward to this game because, just like the original Wii Sports, it’s a game in which anyone can play and have a good time. A great party game, fo sho.

The Wii MotionPlus accessory will come packed with Wii Sports Resort when it is released sometime during the holiday season.

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