When Sony announced the Playstation Move
There are six sports games in the collection, and they range from the patently obvious (ping-pong and swordfighting) to the downright weird (frisbee golf and bocce). While the modes vary in just how realistic, enjoyable, and addictive they are, they’re all fairly entertaining. There aren’t any filler or copycat games, like in Sports Resort; each game is unique enough to differ from the others.
The different game modes all have three lengthy campaigns, sorted into bronze, silver, and gold cups. Each cup has a number of matches or challenges, and each match/challenge can give you up to three stars depending on your score, which can unlock extras like additional outfits. This system adds a nice bit of depth to the game, actually producing a long-term gameplay structure for single player. There’s also a freeplay mode for each game type, which can be played single player or competitively with two players, and each mode can use the different things you unlock in the campaigns.
Not only is frisbee golf in Sports Champions fun, it’s one of the most realistic-feeling game modes. Hold the Move controller horizontally in one hand and flick your wrist like a frisbee to throw it. The movement translates 1:1, and you can perform some impressive curved throws by tilting the controller slightly. This accuracy is a double-edged sword; while you can put wide, curved angles on the frisbee, you can also end up hucking the thing into trees and rocks just by holding the controller just a few degrees off when you throw. It takes a bit of getting used to, and your first few throws will probably fly wildly to the side. Also, because of the throwing motion, you need to wear the wrist strap. I forsee many remotes flying during heated games of frisbee golf in Sports Champions, and whether the hard plastic end or the soft rubber bulb of the remote hits your HDTV will be entirely up to fate.
While it’s shallow and not particularly realistic, the gladiator combat game mode is a fun diversion. It’s one of the modes that you can optionally play with two controllers, with the second serving as the shield control. It’s also the only mode where the second controller is actually pretty useful. The main wand controls your weapon, while the second wand controls your shield. That fine shield control is vital for blocking attacks and building up the super meter that lets you deal powerful, slow-motion hits. You can play with just one Move controller, but it’s not ideal.
If you have two controllers, it’s a really fun arm-flailing frenzy. You keep slashing at your opponent, trying to either bring their stamina down to zero by striking them when they’re not blocking, or by pushing them back and knocking them out of the ring. You’ll start with basic sword-swinging, but pretty soon you’ll incorporate shield bashes, dodges, and even jumping attacks for when your opponent gets knocked to the ground. It’s a frantic and stupidly entertaining game mode. Unfortunately, since the Move system requires two players to stand fairly close to each other within the Playstation Eye’s view, the occasional inadvertent hit seems inevitable. I didn’t clock Chris when playing the game, but I managed to send a plastic cup flying a few feet. Like frisbee golf, you really need to be careful when gladiator fighting.
Not only is archery one of the most-hyped game modes, but it turns out to be one of the most fun. It plays a lot like Link’s Crossbow Training, with several archery ranges featuring stationary bulls-eyes, moving targets, flying fruit, and other objects for you to attack with arrows. The Move controller acts as your string hand; first, you reach over your shoulder to pull an arrow from your quiver, then you point the remote at the Playstation Eye to nock the arrow onto the bowstring, then you optionally pull the remote back as you aim at your target. When you’re ready to fire, just release the trigger and watch the arrow sail.
While gladiator combat works better with two controllers, archery is actually more fun (and less realistic) when you have only one controller. In the two controller mode, the secondary wand acts as your bow hand; hold the remote in front of you and keep it steady, and mimic nocking the arrow and pulling back the string by pulling the main wand in front of the second wand, then dragging it back. While it sounds good in theory, the second controller made aiming much more difficult, and I found my view floating up in the air as the Eye struggled to figure out where I was trying to aim based on both wands.
Of Sports Champions’ six game modes, beach volleyball is perhaps the weakest. It feels a lot like tennis in Wii Sports; you don’t control much movement, and instead focus on timing your wand swings to hit the volleyball at just the right moment. Volleyball is the sport that requires the most footwork of the six, and the need to stay in the calibrated box defined by the Playstation Eye makes the game feel stifled.
Yes, bocce is one of the game modes. Amazingly, it’s actually a pretty fun, if simple, game. Throw the small ball down the field, then compete with your opponent to get your larger balls as close to the small ball as possible. It’s a little bit like bowling, and is best played like bowling. Once you toss the small ball, roll the large balls underhand. You can throw them through the air, but they’ll fly out of bounds more often than not. There isn’t a whole lot to note beyond that. Unless you really like bocce, you’ll probably only come back to it when archery, frisbee golf, gladiator combat, and ping-pong get stale.
Along with frisbee golf, ping-pong is one of the most realistic game modes in Sports Champions. Unlike tennis in Wii Sports or ping-pong in Wii Sports Resort, you actually have total control of your paddle, and must take more care to hit the ball than just flicking your wrist at the right time. The Move controller tracks your motions 1:1, and you have to exhibit very good paddle control to win matches. It feels a lot like actually playing ping-pong, just without the physical impact or hollow plastic bouncing noise. Or the constant insistence of friends to fold up the net, get out the cups, and switch to beer pong.
Ping-pong is probably the game mode you’ll come back to most often. It comes darn close to a real ping-pong game, and is generally the most fun sport on the disc. Gladiator combat, archery, and frisbee golf all come a close second-through-fourth, and bocce and volleyball might give you a decent distraction for an hour or two.
Sports Champions is a worthy competitor to Wii Sports, and was a smart choice from Sony as the pack-in game for the Playstation Move starter bundle. It’s still just a minigame compilation, but there’s enough campaign depth, variety, and multiplayer fun to keep you occupied for hours. It doesn’t necessarily justify its $40 standalone price tag, but it’s definitely a great part of the Move starter pack.
