Bowling, Golf and Boxing!
BOWLING
HEXUS.gaming Tournament : NICK WINS!
Bringing a bowling alley into the comfort of your living room without having to wear those ridiculous shoes must be a bonus. This was my favourite Wii-sports game due to how well the Wii-mote replicates the feel of actually bowling a ball down the lanes. You hold the B button (the trigger underneath the Wii-mote) and then release it when you’re ready to send the ball towards the pins. Move the Wii-mote backwards and forwards in a smooth bowling motion and tilt it to the left or right if you want to swerve (hook) the ball. You can move the player left and right with the d-pad in order to approach the pins from a better angle and you need to be extremely wary of accidentally tilting your Wii-mote, because even the slightest movement resulted in the ball landing in the gutters.
Click for larger imageNick won this game with ease and although I felt slightly embarrassed at my inability to keep the Wii-mote steady this will be the game that I’ll be inviting friends round to play more than any other. It's not revolutionary by any means, it's just bowling, but once again this is going to be a great game to play when you have a bunch of mates around for the evening.
GOLF
HEXUS.gaming Tournament : DRAW!
You’ve probably noticed that these short first looks at the Wii Sports titles are taking a rather familiar pattern. It will be no surprise then that ‘Golf’ involves holding the Wii-mote like a golf club and swinging it backwards and forwards at different speeds depending on the power required. The power bar on the screen indicates the strength of the shot and if you hit the ball with too much venom you’ll end up in the rough or a bunker.
Click for larger imageOn the green you can view the contours in order to assess the necessary speed and direction of the shot. I personally found ‘Golf’ to be the most difficult game to master, mainly due to the acute accuracy needed to execute a perfect shot.
I personally find golf boring and waiting for Nick to finish his turn was far too dull as he practised his swing a dozen times, but golf lovers will no doubt love how the Wii-mote reacts well to your swing with such accuracy.
BOXING
HEXUS.gaming Tournament : NICK WINS!
‘Boxing’ is the only Wii Sports game that utilised the Wii-mote and the Nunchuck. The controllers act as boxing gloves, allowing you to pull off uppercuts, jabs and hooks The control system was once again very impressive and responsive; hold the controllers up to your face and your character guards against punches, move the controllers left or right in unison and you’ll dodge and weave or you can even spread your arms to taunt your opponent. The health bar on the screen shows your current health and when it reaches a certain point you’ll hit the floor. If you’re lucky and he hasn’t knocked you spark out you can wave the controllers around rapidly which allows you to get up of the canvas and continue with the bout.
Whilst playing 'Boxing' the Nintendo staff were extremely worried that we might break the controllers, so they were constantly reminding us to make sure we had the strap of the Wii-mote fastened securely (we reckon Nintendo are going to do a great trade on replacement Wii-motes).
We were both absolutely exhausted after playing ‘Boxing’, but it’s totally up to you whether you want to act like a boxer in your living room (make sure you have a towel handy) or take a more passive approach on the sofa.
The Wii Sports titles all have extremely basic graphics and simple, but impressive controls. Wii Sports is uncomplicated fun that will be great to play as part of a group. I didn’t have the time to play against the CPU so I can’t really say whether the enjoyment I experienced in the multiplayer matches will be replicated in single player mode. Whatever the case may be, I’m looking forward to getting friends round to take part in some extremely competitive gaming.
HEXUS.gaming tournament result : STEVEN 1 NICK 3
More First Looks coming soon!
