Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Wii Sports Resort Check

It's summer time and the perfect summer game is definitely Wii Sports Resort. It has this great vacation feeling to it and the minigames are perfect for a time, where you don't want to play videogames all day long. I also got in the mood for Wii Sports Resort because of Skyward Sword, since most of Wii Sports Resort's mechanics are going to be used in the next big Zelda title. So, I'm doing the "Wii Sports Resort Chech" right here and now. Which sports do have an influence on Skyward Sword and which might?



Swordplay

I have to admit, I don't like the swordplay in Wii Sports too much. It's because it's not real swordplay, where the blades clash. You have this blocking mechanism while holding down B and if you hit someone's sword, while he blocks, you will be stunned for a moment. I see, that this was necessary for the duel play, because otherwise people probably would just mindlessly attack each other. But on the other hand it feels quite awkward and doesn't have these sword fight dynamics, which I want.

Zelda could make up for it. In Skyward Sword you'll get the real deal, swords clashing, no stupid stunning effects, real men sword fights. And it's gonna be tons of fun.


Frisbee

It was weird, that they didn't include any Boomerang item in the Skyward Sword E3 demo, that could work similar to the Frisbee. But if you think about it, throwing a boomerang like a real boomerang would lack the precision. And that would be annoying. So, maybe there's an item in the game, that will replace the boomerang and works more like the Frisbee from Wii Sports. Or it might be there's no Boomerang at all and the Beetle is the replacement.


Archery

My favorite of all the sports in Wii Sports Resort, I just love it. Yesterday I forced myself to play the archery like you would do in Skyward Sword. Which means I held the Wiimote in my right hand and the Nunchuk in the left. Additionally I was sitting in my armchair all the time. That way I could support my right hand on the arm rest to improve the precesion. And guess what? It worked fine. In fact it worked so good for me, that I broke all records. I achieved the Superstar rank, got the "Secret Target" stamp and nearly got the final stamp, "Sharpshooter" (all times bullseye), as well. I never could do that in the classic play style, where you stand and hold the Wiimote in your left hand.

Additionally in Zelda you will have a real crosshair and not this big circle. Which will make the aiming even more easier. So, I'm very confident about the bow in Skyward Sword.


Basketball

I guess, throwing bombs will be somehow similar to Basketball, just heavier. I don't want to stretch it, but remember the bomb basketball minigame from Majora's Mask?


Table Tennis

Yeah, no. I don't see how the Table Tennis mechanics could find their way into Zelda. Maybe real tennis though, the energy ball tennis (Agahnim, Ganondorf, Phantom Ganon, Puppet Zelda, Cubus Sisters, ...) was always very popular in Zelda games.


Golf

Like Table Tennis I don't see this happening unless you play Golf with your sword.


Bowling

You can bowl bombs. And maybe there will be a bomb bowling minigame (hopefully better than Ocarina of Time's Bombchu Bowling).


Wake Boarding / Power Cruising

The point of these water sports was the steering via Wiimote. I could only see this happening while riding the horse. Remember that weird inflateable horse seat patent from last year? There you would use the Wiimote to steer and the Nunchuk to attack with your sword. Could be in the game, but I'd prefer it if the game would have a more intense overworld without any space or use for a horse.


Canoing

That's a must. I always thought, that the canoing in Twilight Princess didn't hit it's full potential without real Wii paddle controls. It was one of those things, where the old Wiimote without MotionPlus just was not suitable enough. This changed and Wii Sports Resort shows how it could have been.

I really hope that the fishing on a canoe returns. Fishing was one of the sports, that was planned for Wii Sports Resort, but then got scrapped. But we all know Nintendo and this idea will probaly find it's way back into Zelda once again. The fishing Twilight Princess was really good, but with MotionPlus it could be the perfect fishing experience. Yay!


Cycling

No. Just no.


Air Sports

This is probably where the Beetle came from. The airplane controls are very similar and what they have both in common is the exploring. I loved the Island Flyover mode, where I could collect all those sight seeing points and shoot all the white balloons. It was great. And I guess, the Beetle will be very important for exploring Hyrule as well.

There's also the Sky Diving. In Skyward Sword. Link will descend to Hyrule and we already saw the sequence where he jumps down from a cliff. And he also wears these saggy skydiver pants. So, maybe Skydiving is in the game as well.


What remains the most important question to many is, can you play while sitting? Zelda fans are afraid, that they have to stand all the time while playing the game. Because they are irrational and play a new Zelda game for ten hours straight, when it's out. But I say no, stay calm, you can sit down while playing. Archery worked fine for this and I guess during the swordplay small gestures from your wirst will be suitable for most situations. You may have to lift your arm for sword fighting tougher enemies, but as soon as it gets more intense you will probably stand up automatically. I mostly did that in Twilight Princess already, standing up during the boss fight, because it's cool and epic. But don't be afraid, my guess is, that you will be able to play most of the time while sitting in your couch (even though it might be better for most people, if they'd get their asses up :D).

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