Big Beach Sports is another attempt to unseat Wii Sports with six beach related activities (sadly, no bikini watching). While it has its moments, there aren't enough of them to justify the game's $30 price tag. Go to a real beach instead.
Six sporting events are available: Frisbee golf, cricket, American football, soccer, volleyball and a strange French sport called boules, where you roll balls on the ground towards a target. The highlight is definitely Frisbee golf, as you can master throwing techniques. Volleyball isn't bad either, requiring you to swing your arms around as you would in a real game. Boules and cricket are all right, but not nearly as catchy as these other two games. Soccer and American football are terrible, since your computer teammates react as if they have sand on the brain.
Most of the time, the gameplay works, but it's incredibly limited. Rather than being in complete control of your character, you handle specific movements. For instance, your character's position on the volleyball court is taken care of, leaving you to simply swing your arm to keep the ball in play. THQ should have found a way to incorporate the Nunchuk for more precise control over your characters.
As for the rest of the game, there isn't much to do. You can compete in tournaments for unlockable prizes, such as medals and playable characters, but they aren't worthwhile. The best way get some value from the game is to play up to four friends (each using their own separate Wii controllers).
Visually, most of the characters look bad, with very little personality in their appearance and accessories. The tropical backdrops do little to convince you that you're on a beach. The music is mostly bland and the sound effects are barely existent.
Finally, we have to express some disappointment with the character customization tool. You have very little to work with in creating your ideal beach bum. As a result, you'll end up using someone that bears very little resemblance to you. Why we weren't given the option of porting pre-created Miis into the game is beyond us.
Big Beach Sports may seem like a good alternative to the real thing, especially considering its budget $30 price tag. However, it doesn't come close to the addictiveness of Wii Sports. A couple of the activities are fun, particularly Frisbee golf and volleyball, but outside of a rental, there's not much life to this Beach.
Reader Comments (1)
Hm, what a shame Nintendo has focused so much on utilizing the capabilities of the new technology instead of focusing thier attention on combining it with an AWESOME GAME. Im sick of Wii Sports and the like, Im a gamer who likes to get into a game, not just play it for the simple fact that it has some new technology that enables you to controll differently than ever before. Whooooo.. I mean dont get me wrong- the Wii is an excelent piece of equiptment and the controlls are nice, if only they were applied to a game that was a little more than waving your arms around pointlessly like a maniac to something with no plot whatsoever. Come on, its been long enough after the Wii's release now that they should have been coming out with more exciting and skill- requiring games. Im sorry, there just isnt any pwnage in Wii sports or this new one. Super Smash Brothers Brawl- awesome. A few other titles live up to good gaming, too. But there simply arent that many game titles I'm seeing that seem like they have decent, enticing gameplay. Come on, where are the RPGs and FPS? Where have all the hours of unique adventurous gameplay gone? Wii sports and the like just dont satisfy a gamer's need. Not in my opinion at least. Plus, you'd think Nintendo would have better graphics by now- what's with the half-assed CGI? Im an artist, I know how much effort they put into creating 3-D characters and their worlds, and these screenshots just dont cut it. Its a simple object with a simple pattern or color to overlay it- reminds me of the old Donkey Kong 64. Or mabey Super Mario Sunshine (Cool graphics for the time I must say, but we've evolved to the Wii now, kick it up a notch like always) I KNOW they can do better than that! Other game titles clearly have more effort put into them- but again, there simply arent enough. On the bright side, Fatal Frame IV is coming out- and I doubt Konomi will let me down. At least theres something to look forward to- a Wii game that actually has content and graphics that took effort! Yyyyaaaaaaaay! And one last note- has anyone else noticed that some Wii games have rediculously terrible controlls? Some are nicely handled, but others.... Goodness, get it together. Ive been a Nintendo fan since my childhood days with the NES at my side, kicking pixelated ass. The evolution since then is starting to dissapoint me- I hope some better titles will come out, I really do. Lay off the sports and what not- weve been there, done that, and we want some better gameplay!