Review by: Meghan Watt

Like most Wii games, Ubisoft's Racquet Sports is charming, quirky and sometimes downright adorable. But despite those button-nose avatars and precious victory dances, this mesh of like-minded sports has little to offer beyond what we've already seen from Wii Sports.

Racquet Sports mainly differs from its broader counterpart in two fashions. First, as the title suggests, Ubisoft's collection focuses only on sports that involve racquets: squash, beach tennis, tennis, ping-pong and badminton. Different paddles, rules, arenas and balls aside, the games feel virtually the same. Once you've played one, you've essentially played them all.

Second, the game incorporates two extra accessories: the Wii Motion Plus and the Ubisoft camera. In theory, the Wii Motion Plus should offer greater control and accuracy as well as the ability to pull off certain moves. For instance, by tilting the controller, you can put a top spin on your tennis swing. These moves, however, do not follow your movements 1:1 and thus work just as well as pushing a button.

Other than the top spin, I never got the feeling that the Motion Plus made a smidgen of a difference. Perhaps I was spending too much effort battling the Wii over control of my own avatar's position. Of course, it could have been that I stopped paying too much attention after I beat my first tournament against the A.I. without giving away a single point. But even against friends, it's near-impossible to feel the difference between playing with Wii Motion Plus and not.

Even if the Wii Motion Plus does manage to improve your game, you still can't see the difference. Unlike Grand Slam Tennis, the characters' animations don't reflect your precise movements, making it difficult to tell exactly what effect you may or may not be having. It's this lack of physical and visual feedback that kill whatever experience the Wii Motion Plus was meant to give.

Yet the Wii Motion Plus' problems pale in comparison to the complete worthlessness of the Ubisoft camera. The camera is meant to give players the experience of playing the title controller-free. Unfortunately, no matter how brightly lit your TV room is or how painstakingly meticulous you are about staying perfectly aligned with the screen, that baby probably won't work. Why you'd want to play tennis controller-free is another question entirely.