Review by: Brandon "Off the Wall" Cackowski-Schnell

At first glance, when looking at Wii Sports Resort and its mandatory hardware partner the Wii Motion Plus add-on, it's easy to see it as a tech demo, similar to the original Wii Sports or as a throwaway game designed to help ease the sting of buying additional hardware a la Wii Play. Assume at your own peril though as doing so would cause you to miss out on the whole story. Yes, the game has some parts tech demo and some parts throwaway in it, but is mostly a well implemented collection of engaging and, dare I say it, fun games designed to hook casual users as well as keep the more savvy gamers coming back.

From the opening sequence where your Mii jumps out of a plane over Wuhu Island and you have to navigate your Mii through the clouds so that they can link up with other skydivers and pose for a photo opp, it's clear that Wii Sports has had a bit of an overhaul. The bright colors are still there, but everything is just a little more detailed, including your Mii which now has fully formed limbs. Eventually you'll deploy your chute and float to the ground where you'll be treated to 12 different activities, ten of which are new with bowling and golf making a return appearance from the original game.

The same basic structure from the original game is present however there are some small changes. For one, practice modes are now integrated directly into the game. So, if you don't quite have the hang of wakeboarding and don't want to be scored on your jumps, with a press of the minus button you can go into free cruising mode and just get pulled around until you get the hang of things. For other events such as sword fighting, each entry into the game will begin with a practice round until you dismiss it enough, at which point the game will catch on that you don't need any practice in the sweet science of braining your child with a stick. The inclusion of practice modes in with the actual game is a great addition as it allows you to easily give those that need a refresher or a little extra help the assistance they need without feeling like you're spending half of your time in the menus.

The other change to the layout is that certain game modes which were only present in the training modes of Wii Sports, 100 pin bowling for example, are now listed as a game variant off of the title screen. It's a small change but a welcome one. As you try the different events, additional variants on those events will be unlocked, expanding the offerings to as many as three variants for some games. Luckily unlocking the variants isn't tied to any particular score or other progress meter allowing you to easily unlock all of the variants simply by trying out everything the game has to offer. The title screen keeps track of what's new and most popular as well as flashing a "recommended" status above anything it feels you haven't spent enough time in. It's unobtrusive enough to not be annoying but helpful in case you haven't been paying attention to what's been unlocked.

With as many activities as there are in the game, 12 total with varying numbers of variants, courses and difficulty levels, there's bound to be something here for everyone. Unfortunately the opposite also holds true in that not everything is going to win folks over. For the record, here are my gut reactions to the 12 sports:

1.) Swordplay - love the one on one versus mode, but only against a real person. Speed Slice is fun for a round or two but has no lasting appeal which is unfortunate as that's the only thing my kid wants to play. Showdown mode where you face off against waves of attackers is one of the best games on the disc.