Take a Resort Vacation

Enough complaining about bad TV. We've got Wii goodness today. The Wii Sports Resort is open for business, and it delivers! This resort has 12 different sports and multiple modes for each. I haven't given all of them the time they deserve yet, so I'm just going to hit a few highlights.

First, we've finally got what we've been waiting for: Wii sword dueling. It works surprisingly well, in a simplified manner. Since the two blades can't physically connect, hitting your opponent's guard causes your Mii to stumble back and leave himself more open. It's a little silly conceptually, but it works in practice. We had three people playing that night, and we had an interesting rock/paper/scissors dynamic. Each of us could consistently beat exactly one other person. We're going to need a rematch soon. After some practice against the computer, I have a much better idea of how to properly defeat someone's guard.

Next up, and possibly my favorite so far, is the archery. The rules are simple. You get three arrows per target, and you score more points (up to 10 per arrow) depending on how close you are to a bulls eye. Of course, once you go beyond the beginner course the targets start moving. The physics are also rather impressive. You need to compensate for both wind and distance to score well.

Bowling's back, and the basic game will seem very familiar to anyone who played the original Wii Sports. Fun, yes, but what caught my eye was the 100-pin game. Not only is it fun to knock over that many pins at once, but I got to witness an amazing score. I broke 1000, but my opponent managed over 2.5k. If not for a few 99s that became spares, that would have been a perfect game.

The last one I'm going to mention tonight (and believe me, there's so much more I could) is the jet ski. I have to wonder if they brought in some of the old team from Waverace 64 for this one. The water physics are great. The controls are a little strange. The Wiimote and nunchuck are held as if they are the two grips on the handle bars. Some players I saw got the two out of sync rather than keeping them a straight line. This makes the Wii confused. Once you get the hang of it, it works well.

I've only begun to explore all the different options. Judging from the portion I've played extensively, though, it's well worth picking up.