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 Deca
Sports (Wii)
Featuring ten entertaining games, Hudson's
Deca Sports for the Wii goes beyond the usual mini-game collections to
give players a great value for their money. With a range of accessible and
easy to play sports ranging from soccer to badminton to more obscure and
somewhat odd events like curling and archery, Deca Sports provides plenty
of variety in terms of style of play. Each game in the package has
intuitive, easy-to-understand controls that make the game easy accessible
for players of all abilities. Single player modes are fun, but Deca Sports
really shines when playing against friends, where the social element
really takes off making for a title that should appeal to a
broad audience of players.
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Deca Sports loads up, players a greeted by an upbeat song encouraging them
to 'move their body' as an array of sports themed games unfold on the
menu. It's not your typical sports title and has more in common with
Nintendo's Wii Sports than Madden, though it does feature a couple of
traditional team sports. Ten events are available in all including
Volleyball, Basketball, Snowboard Cross, Kart Racing, Figure Skating,
Soccer, Archery, Curling, Supercross racing and Badminton. These events
are well rounded and offer a full game experience, not a cheap mini-game
which makes each event satisfying in their own way. As you begin the game,
you can select from a number of different teams, each of which has their
pluses and minuses. When you've selected your character, you can then
compete in a number of events, either in tournament mode against other
players or you can challenge each event individually. As an added bonus,
each event has a special mode called Deca Challenge where you can earn a
trophy by completing a mini-game. These trophies can then be viewed in
your team's locker room, which is a cool feature that adds some replay
value to the game.
Eschewing many of the hardcore features
that make many modern sports games so intimidating to newcomers, Deca
Sports takes the essence of each and allows gamers to play a variety of
sports without learning an array of complicated controls. This allows you
to jump right into something like the Kart Racing game without much
effort, you steer by moving the wii-mote from side to side and need to
avoid obstacles, perform massive jumps and steer through the mud to
overtake your opponents. This approach also extends to the game's
Supercross bike racing mode, which features similar controls but more
complex courses. When you're driving on these courses, you steer as you do
in other games, but can tilt the controller back and forth to slide your
bike into position and perform special moves by shaking the controller
around. The snowboarding game follows the same basic formula as Supercross,
but players adjust their rider's speed and position by moving the wii-mote
and try to make better time by flowing with the course. Your opponents are
aggressive, but you can earn extra points by performing special moves when
you hit jumps and gain speed by crouching down, slowing around the
corners. It's a fun little game with some surprisingly difficult tracks
and corners, so you need to be careful when you play not to get too casual
about things.
What's
really remarkable is just how polished and well-thought out the controls
and interface for each game in Deca Sports is. For example, in the
basketball game, players need only to swing the remote down to jump and
time their shot by pressing up to score a basket, which makes for a major
change from traditional sports interface design. Another example is the
soccer game, which takes a five-on-five form with indoor fields for much
faster play. This extends to controls where you move the players with the
nunchuck and shoot by swinging the remote. It's fun to play and there are
no complex formations to memorize here. It simple and fun, though you can
pass and perform some special moves here and there, this is a fast-paced
party soccer game where the action comes before realism. It's not going to
challenge FIFA, but it's loads of fun, and much simpler which means it
should appeal to younger or less experienced players. Deca Sports also
includes a fairly decent array of characters to choose from in the various
sports, though you can't customize them like a Mii, they're still
appealing.
So far, the games included on the disc
will probably seem quite appealing, but there's still more to see. Deca
Sports also includes an entertaining and challenging volleyball game where
you can hit the ball at the opponent with a simple swing and spike with
quick thrusts, making it easy to play and surprisingly challenging, though
not surprisingly, the game is even better with friends. None of the games
are particularly deep but this doesn't matter since this has obviously
been designed from the ground up as a party game. Two of the more
interesting events in the game are curling and archery. It's a bit of an
obscure sport, but curling is surprisingly fun to play - think of it as
shuffleboard on ice, with the player beginning by launching the ball which
is then guided over the ice by controlling two sweepers who steer it
towards a center ring where points are determined. It probably takes some
time to get used to the rules, but it's lots of fun. Another enjoyable
event is Archery, which requires a great deal of skill to hit the target
while providing a fairly decent reflection of the bow mechanics, where you
have to pull up the remote and hold the trigger button, aim your shot and
release. It's surprisingly tricky to do this successfully but makes the
challenging game fun to play. One of the more interesting games is Ice
Skating, where you have to guide your skater though a series of indicators
and perform special moves and techniques when you get to special points on
the course. It's not as easy as it sounds, and the interface is a bit
clunky, making this one of the less enjoyable titles on the disc.
Deca
Sports succeeds more than it doesn't, and its Mii-like characters are cute
and the atmosphere is light enough to make this instantly enjoyable. With
ten entertaining games in all and a bargain price, Deca Sports provides a
great deal of value for gamers, and its accessible controls make it fun
for both casual and experienced players. This instantly appealing approach
makes for a light and incredibly accessible experience. Deca Sports
delivers a surprisingly enjoyable game that's loads of fun to play and
should keep you occupied and entertained for many hours, making it a
highly recommended addition to your Wii party game library.
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Michael Palisano
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