As a proud Wii owner, I can tell you that I’ve had to repurchase the Wii Sports game simply because of how much I use it. The game has an excellent Tennis and Boxing portion that really pushes the calorie burn. Now that we’re in the age of the VR, it’s time to see the new version of Wii Sports, VR Sports, but this time it isn’t owned by Nintendo.
What is VR Sports?
VR Sports is like I’ve previously described. There are a bunch of mini-games that allow you to explore different sports to get used to the VR environment. These mini-games are usually slow to start and mildly intense to finish off. Bowling, Derby, Soccer, Basketball, Kyudo, Clay Shooting, and Boxing are all part of the package so you can be sure that you will find some sport you are good at. Perhaps the best part about the game is that there are also varying levels of difficulty, which is key when developing a game that is meant to act as an introduction to the VR environment.
Graphics and Visuals 3/5
The graphics for the game are not bad, but they’re also not awe-inspiring. Perhaps the most graphically impressive would be the boxing while the least impressive would have to be the bowling. The game is not meant to be a AAA product, so it’s understandable why the developers went with a more optimized option.
Hardware Requirements 3/5
You need at least an i5 processor with 4GB of RAM and 200MB of space. You will need the standard GTX 970 graphics card though. I will make a mention of the fact that you will need a USB 2.0 for this game, presumably for the faster speeds, but what motherboard can support VR games but also doesn’t have USB 2.0 support?
Fitness 4/5
Just like the Wii Sports, you will only get some exercise with a few of the games. The most intense is, of course, is the boxing mini-game with the least amount of exercise going to baseball. The variation is very nice if you’re the type of person that needs to work up to an activity because it is too intense for you.
Gameplay 4/5
Needless to say, the game is really easy to get into and really easy to learn. Each game feels like the real sport and you are given multiple areas of gameplay. I would say the asking price of $12.99 is worth it if you want an all around sports game. The team does actively update the game, which is a good feature to keep in mind as one of their newest updates was the ability to record in MR and improving boxing animations.
Overall Score: 4/5
I will say that this is one of those sports games that actually provides a sport instead of finding a way around the demands for the sport. Obviously, I would prefer these companies take more time and develop in-game locomotion aspects as we’ve seen in other games so that we can fully round out the experience. An example of a great locomotion addition would be in the boxing arena where you can move around using the position sensors and the room is your boxing ring instead of standing still to just dodge hits. There could be a lot more that was added to this game, but it’s great to see a sports game that is actually about sports and not a re-envisioned version of sports so that it’s easier to develop the game.
