| EXTREME GAME REVIEW | ~ "Wii Sports Club" (Nintendo Wii U eShop)

"Let the games begin---AGAIN!"

(Check out the VIDEO REVIEW)

Nintendo set the gaming world ablaze back in 2006 when they launched their new (at-the-time) home console - the Wii. While it was being slammed for its lack of HD-graphics and childish "waggle controls" - one game took the console above and beyond its stronger and "more hardcore" competitors. It's a game that millions of people, from little kids to old retired grandparents, can get up and say "I've played that". 

Two words: Wii Sports.

The best-selling video game ever, clocking in at over 80+million units sold, has been taken back to the drawing board, and given a new breath of life. Possessing enhanced controls, a boost in graphical fidelity and a first for the series - online gameplay - Wii Sports Club looks keen to re-create the magic of its former self. 

|GAMEPLAY|

In it's current form, Wii Sports Club offers 2 of the 5 games that was found in the original version - Tennis and Bowling. Both have been given enhanced controls, through use of the Wii Motion+ technology. 

Let's start off with Tennis.

The basic routine remains the same: knock the ball as hard as you can to make sure your opponent has as little of a chance as possible to return it to you. In the original Wii Sports, I can agree that the tennis controls felt rather heavy, nevertheless, they were responsive. Here in Wii Sports Club, the controls are a little bit more slick and while still responsive, due to the 1:1 tracking offered by Motion+ - it's a little bit more tedious to control your racket and hit the ball properly. While it definitely doesn't feel broken, it does take a little getting used to. Nevertheless, the game is still as fun and competitive as ever, and this is even more pronounced now that there is an online component, to play with users from around the world.

Motion+ makes it a little more tedious, but it's still fun.

Now to switch over to Bowling. 

What is arguably the most popular sport of the original game, Blowing makes a nice return with the enhanced Motion+ controls. If you've played Wii Sports Resort, which also featured Bowling and used (required) the Motion+ technology, then things really shouldn't feel all that different. While it may have not changed from Wii Sports Resort, that's not necessarily a bad thing. When compared to it's original outing in the first Wii Sports, the controls are much more responsive and fluid, and taking control of the ball feels as realistic as ever, of course, without the weight.You can play 3 kinds of games: a 10-Pin game, a 100-Pin game (my personal favorite) and Spin Control. All of these can also be played online, as well as locally.

While quite similar to Wii Sports Resort ~ Bowling is still Fun and the Online makes it Even Better.

With these two sports in hand, Wii Sports Club does not fall short in delivering yet another strong dose of fun and competitiveness. Now that mayhem has transferred to the online world. 

Speaking of which, how good is the online? In a word: alright.

Before an actual match begins, you're put in a waiting lobby. Here you can go ahead and get some light practice before you go against other players. For bowling, 3 other players need to connect before the game begins. Tennis only needs 1 other player (if you're playing a single-team match). Once everyone gets connected, the game then starts.

I've encountered only a few hiccups when playing online with this game. There were sometimes where a player would get disconnected and in some instances, there would be some serious lag, but neither of these issues occurred on a regular enough basis to consider it to be a huge problem. 

What is a problem though, is the fact that the features are pretty basic. For a 'social' game, the social-connection between players in an online game is pretty basic. There's no voice chat, or even text-chat. You can select from a list of pre-made taunts, and post your own words to Miiverse, but when in a match with the other players - you can only communicate from the pre-made taunts. You can't send a message, nor can you use the Gamepad's mic to talk to the other players. This was a let-down.

Nevertheless, Wii Sports Club has shaped up to be pretty nice in terms of overall 

gameplay. Tennis needs some control tweaking, and the online needs to be a little more social, but nonetheless, in it's current form - it's still rather fun and partially addicting.

 

|PRESENTATION|

The Wii Sports series isn't exactly known for having mind-blowing graphics, nor does it need to, but it would have been nice for the "HD graphics" too look similar to something like Kinect Sports or Kinect Adventures. While the jaggies of the standard-definition games are gone, Wii Sports Club's visual changes don't get more amazing than that. The colors appear to be slightly more washed out and the character models still look pretty modest. Even Nintendo Land had a more impressive art-style, which makes it quite a head-scratcher that Nintendo didn't bother to re-create such a beautiful artstyle with this revision. 

Washed out colors may be prevalent, but the smoothness of HD makes up for it. 

Nevertheless, while Wii Sports Club isn't an amazing looking game, it isn't an ugly one either. As mentioned before, the jaggies of 480p are gone, which make the game a little more pleasing to the eyes. Even though the colors are a bit washed out compared to the older versions, it's nothing that your TVs video settings can't compensate for. 

|SOUNDTRACK|

Like the graphics, the sounds of Wii Sports Club have gotten a modest upgrade. Music and sound effects have been recycled from the original game, but have been given a slight remaster, to breathe a fresh, new breath of life into the revision. Nintendo's efforts aren't half bad in this area, as Wii Sports (especially Resort) already had some pretty enjoyable music. Either way, their remaster of the bowling alley music which is found in the 10-pin game, makes the saxophone in the background even more annoying than it already was, at least in my opinion. Nevertheless, if you enjoyed music of the original, you'll enjoy it all over again.

Probably the biggest change as it relates to sounds, is the announcer. In both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, the announcer sounded young and vibrant. Here in Wii Sports Club - he sounds much more mature and serious. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was surprising how much different he sounds. I guess 7-years of puberty can really change those vocals. 

|REPLAY VALUE|

While Wii Sports has never been the kind of game that you play for hours on end (at least for most people, I once put in a good 6 hours in one session) - that doesn't change the fact that it carries a strong sense of fun and competitiveness. This is now even more emphasized with the online component, which gives you more incentive to launch the game, just to go and *pwn* some noobs at a game of tennis, or make that impossible double strike in a 100-pin bowling match. With the returning achievement stamps and the new addition of online leaderboards and of the fact that you can post screenshots, text and pictures to Miiverse - the inner-jerk that we all have will more than likely be awakened to launch the game, play an online match and parade around Miiverse when we do something cool. 

My only issue is what you have to do in order to play the game, in order to do this.

Being a digital-only release (for now, at least) ~ Nintendo has decided to split the game into individual sports. While the program itself is free, the sports are not. You have two options: buy a Day Pass - which is $2 - which gives you access to an individual sport for 24-hours, or a Permanent Pass - which is $10 - which gives you unlimited access to an individual sport.

The Day Pass is a good (and affordable) option for those who are planning to have some friends over for a local session, but if you're looking to play online often, the Permanent Pass is more than likely the option you're going to want to go with. Problem is, $10 is quite a pretty penny for just 1 sport. There are entire GAMES on the eShop which are going for that price. When Wii Sports Club is fully complete, it will include the 5 sports from the original game, which means that if you want to have access to all 5 sports - you will have to fork over $50. That's bogus. $5 per sport would be a much better deal, as that would only equate to $25 in all - a far cry from $50. 

Sure, to have an online game, you need servers, which require money to run, but $10 to permanent access for each sport is a total rip-off, especially considering the original in it's entirety is only worth about a little over $10. 

|THE BOTTOM LINE|

While Wii Sports Club may not carry the same magic as its near decade-old predecessor, it is indeed a good attempt to re-invigorate the old bird on a new console. Possessing enhanced graphics and controls - and a decent online component - Wii Sports Club is a wonderful little package. While it still needs some adjustments, and some new features couldn't hurt, the game in it's current state continues to bring a nice amount of fun and overall competitiveness. 

With 2/5 sports complete, it should be an interesting sight to see where the development team goes with the revision of the other three remaining sports. 

PROS:

+ Motion-Plus technology is still reliable and fluid.

+ Online system is decent.

+ Graphics are modest, but nice.

CONS:

- More social features are needed.

- No options to invite friends in a personal game.

- High price. 

FINAL SCORE:

8.0/10

"Good"