Wii Sports (series)
| Details | |
|---|---|
| First installment | Wii Sports (2006) |
| Last installment | Nintendo Switch Sports (2022) |
| Other installment(s) | Wii Sports Resort (2009) Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort (2012) |
| Related serie(s) or game(s) | Main series Wii series Related Series: Super Smash Bros. series Mario Kart series Pilotwings series |
| Platform(s) | Wii Wii U Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch |
- This article is about the video game series, and should not be confused with the game of the same name.
The Wii Sports series is a video game series and currently the biggest and most prominent series of all of the Wii series, closely followed by the Wii Fit series. The series started in 2006 with the release of Wii Sports on the Wii, who has since been followed by multiple sequels released on the same console with Wii Sports Resort, as well as its successor, the Wii U with Wii Sports Club and the Nintendo Switch with Nintendo Switch Sports. This series received a crossover with the Pilotwings series called Pilotwings Resort, released on the Nintendo 3DS that is not part of the Wii Sports series yet takes place on the Wii Sports Resort ineration of Wuhu Island.
The Wii Sports series is one of the many Wii series and differentiate itself from the other series by focusing entirely on mini-games based on sports, such as Bowling, Tennis, Wakeboarding and so on.
Most of these games, as well as the Wii series as a whole, are considered to be some of the most famous Mii-related games, having their cast entirely made of Miis, from the player's main avatar to the NPCs that the player have to play against and even the background characters frequetly being Miis choosen randomly from the Miis saved on the console that the game is running on. Nintendo Switch Sports however, made the uses of Sportsmates as the primary characters, with the Miis still being available but as a side option.
Basic gameplay
The Wii Sports series is almost entiertly made of games having different Sports with very simple gameplay based around mimicking basics movements found in the real life counterpart with a Wii Remote, as an example, in the Tennis section of Wii Sports, the player can make the tennisball bounces back at his opponent by hitting the ball with his Mii's tennis racket by swinging the Wii Remote once the ball is close enough to his character. A Sports can very rarely control differently such as in Air Sports where the player control the plane itself and not the Miis.
List of playable sports
| Sports | / 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennis | Available | Not available | Not available |
| Baseball | Available | Not available | Not available |
| Bowling | Available | Available | Available |
| Golf | Available | Available | Available (added as a free update on November 28, 2022) |
| Boxing | Available | Not available | Not available |
| Swordplay / Chambara | Not available | Available | Available |
| Frisbee | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Wakeboarding | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Archery | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Basketball | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Table Tennis | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Power Cruising | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Canoeing | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Cycling | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Air Sports | Not available | Available | Not available |
| Volleyball | Not available | Not available | Available |
| Badminton | Not available | Not available | Available |
| Soccer | Not available | Not available | Available |
List of games
Main games
| Main games in the Wii Sports series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game(s) cover(s) | Console | Description |
 Wii Sports |
Wii | Main article : Wii Sports
The Wii sports series, as well as all of the other Wii series, started with the release of Wii Sports on the Wii in 2006, serving as a launch title for the Wii console and being included with the console as a bundled offering in all regions except Japan and South Korea. Nintendo at that time tried to make the Wii's main demographics be the peoples that do not often play video games, and to achieve that goal, started a brand new series focused on games with simple a design and being accessible enough so that both first-time and long-time video game players could enjoy those games, later separating themselves from one another and forming the Wii series. Wii Sports was one of the first game to be created with that idea in mind; released in November of 2006, as a launch title bundled with the Wii. The game consisted of five sports games, being tennis, baseball, golf, bowling and boxing that could be played by controlling a select Mii created on the Wii's Mii Channel or choosing a pre-made Mii with the inconvenience of not being able to save their progress in the games. The gameplay itself was very simple, being almost entierly controlled my mimicking the movement made in the real life counterpart of the sports selected with a Wii remote. Wii Sports became a hit in the videogame space as well as places in which video games would not normally be seen, most notably hospitals who used the game as a method of physical therapy for those recovering from strokes and injuries[1]. Due to its accessibility and its pack-in statues with every Wii until 2011, Wii Sports went to become the best-selling video game available on a single console, beating the previous record hold by Super Mario Bros. |
 Wii Sports Resort |
Wii | Main article : Wii Sports Resort
3 years after the release of Wii Sports, a sequel named Wii Sports Resort came out. The direct sequel to Wii Sports was often bundled with the Wii Motion Plus accessory and served as a demonstration for it, improving the Wii Remote's motion control by adding a gyroscope at the bottom of the remote. Being a sequel to Wii Sports, it include 10 new sports : Swordplay, Wakeboarding, Frisbee, Archery, Basketball, Table Tennis, Air Sports, Power Cruising, Canoeing and Cycling; alongside the return of two sports from its predecessor, bowling and golf. The game took place in a new location called Wuhu Island that first appeared in another Wii series, the Wii Fit series, that at the time called it the Wii Fit Insland. This island themed after a vacation resort soonly became the most recognisable location in the Wii Sports series, even appearing in other game such as Pilotwings Resort, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. and Mario Kart 7. Wii Sports Resort gain a similar success to its predecessor, going on to sell around 32 million copies and being ranked as the third in best selling game on the Wii, behind the original Wii Sports and Mario Kart Wii. |
 Nintendo Switch Sports |
Nintendo Switch | Main article : Nintendo Switch Sports
Over 12 years after the release of Wii Sports Resort, a third main installment in the Wii Sports series came out, being Nintendo Switch Sports, released on the Nintendo Switch in 2022. Before the release of the game however, an online play test was set, allowing player to try portions of the game at specific times between the 18th Februaryand the 20th February of 2022. While being a sequel to both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, the game only included 3 new sports : Soccer, Volleyball and Badminton, with 3 sports being brought up from the game's prequel at launch : Chambara (a renamed version of Swordplay), Tennis, and Bowling. Golf, coming back from both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, was later added into the game with a free download in holidays of 2022.The game do not use Miis as its main avatar however, as while still being a side option, Sportsmate were introduced as the primary choice. |
Spin-offs
| Spin-offs of the Wii Sports series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game(s) cover(s) | Console | Description |
 Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort |
Wii | Main article : Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort
A compilation disc included with some Wiis called Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort came out in America in 2012, with the disc getting a worldwide release in other region as well. This game was not available to buy on its own and only came with Wii bundle, causing the game to never get a proper DVD size box and only coming in a cardbord cardboard sleeve. |
 Wii Sports Club |
Wii U | Main article : Wii Sports Club
In 2013, an HD remake of Wii Sports called Wii Sports Club was released on the Wii's succesor, the Wii U. The remake however, was at the time exclusive to the eShop, being free to download but required players to buy Sports Ticket in order to have access to the sports available. Appart from the graphics, the main selling argument of this game was the addition of online multiplayer, allowing players to play with other person all around the world, players being able to join clubs in order to create groups of players competing with other club online. The game was later released on a disc in 2014, removing the need for rent the Sports in order to play them. |
Related series
"Wii" series and games
The "Wii" series, including the Wii Sports series, as well as the other "Wii" game, despite technically not being the same series can be linked together via multiples factors apart of the name having Wii in the title; such as Miis being used as the playable characters, as well as the other NPCs seen in-game, and the artstyle of all series being somewhat simplistic.
In addition to those factor, some of the Wii series were developed during the same time and make references to one another, such as the location Wuhu Island being in both the Wii Sports series and Wii Fit series or Sebastian Tute and Party Phil from the Wii Music game and Wii Party series respectively pretty obviously being part of the same species.
Super Smash Bros. series
The Super Smash Bros. series, being a crossover between various Nintendo franchises, have various element from the Wii Sports series represented in various games.
Pilotwings series
A crossover between the Wii Sports series and the Pilotwings series called Pilotwings Resort was released in 2011, being the third game released in the Pilotwings series.
Mario Kart series
Wuhu Island from the Wii Sports and the Wii Fit series is used as two race tracks and as a battle course throughout the series, all of those area having the Wii Sports Resort title screen theme playing in the background.
