In this review we’ll look at Deca Sports, another game that involves several sport activities in one. Hudson released Deca Sports in hopes to raise the bar for Wii sports games. Deca Sports features 10 games, which range from figure skating to basketball, so hopefully there’s something to please everyone no matter what age group or sport fan you are.
As mentioned above, Deca Sports is another (insert number here) in one sports games for the Wii. Deca has 10 games, which include badminton, motocross, kart racing, volleyball, curling, figure skating, archery, basketball, soccer and snowboarding. Each game has its own special controls and tries to act as close to the real thing as possible. There are six different teams to choose from, each team having its own special abilities and players. The team’s range from an all male or female team, to a power based or finesse team. So there’s definitely a team to please everyone. Unfortunately your Mii’s aren’t used in this game. Other than what’s mentioned above there aren’t really any other special features the game provides.
The player modes include single and multi player. If you’re taking a run at this game alone you’ll obviously select single player. Once you select single player there are 4 different game modes to choose from. Open Match is the most basic in which you select a sport to play, select your options and have fun trying to beat the AI in a match of badminton or whichever sport you pick. The next is Deca League, which is probably one of the most enjoyable modes. In league mode you select a team and compete against 3 other teams in all 10 sports to see who the best is. There are trophies, going in order from rookie, regular to champion league, which is obviously the toughest. The game options are already preset so it’s as easy as picking your team and playing the games the computer picks.
After this we find Tournament. Tournament mode is exactly how it sounds, you select a sport and a team, after that all 7 other teams are entered into the tournament and it works on a seeded basis. Simply put quarter, semi and finals. As you go up the tree the difficulty gets harder and at some points ridiculous. Then if you’re tired of playing the computer at games you can do minigames which helps you familiarize yourself with the controls (which really shouldn’t require any familiarization). The two other options in single player are controls, where you can view the different styles of Wiimote swinging, and locker room, where you can view your prized trophies and team bios. I suppose it’s more or less filler.
Once you get tired of single player and decide to call some friends over that’s when you can jump into multiplayer. There are no different game modes in multiplayer, unfortunately. Essentially you select a sport to play, and the options. For example if you pick badminton, you select a team and player to use then your opponent does the same, after that you select either 1 or 3 sets and set points 5, 11 or 21. Once all that’s selected you and your friend go at it to see who’s the ultimate Wii badmintoneer? On the other hand you can select curling and after all the options are selected you can choose to be on the same team as your buddy or be against him, and we all know that team work builds healthy friendships. Other than that, multiplayer doesn’t have anything else to it. Unfortunately for some reason Hudson decided not to include the tournament and league modes in multiplayer which could have added a little more excitement and fun to the game.
Now it’s on to the game modes. The controls are essentially the same for all game modes. Hence if you can swing your arms wildly around you can probably be a pro at Deca. Badminton and volleyball are the same; just swing the wii remote at the screen to return the ball/birdie. There is a weird thing about these games though; you have to swing long before the ball/birdie reaches your player. For example if the birdie is at the top of the net on a high return you have to swing then, and your player will interpret this as a smash. It takes some getting used to. Kart racing and supercross are exactly the same. Hold the remote sideways and steer pushing 1 and 2 for gas and brake. Snowboarding is almost the same but this time you have to point the remote at the screen and tilt down for speed and pull up to slow down.
Archery and curling involve a pulling back motion, only with curling you have to thrust the remote forward in order to push the rock and then move the stick around wildly to sweep. If you get really into the game you can start yelling “Hurry, HARD!” to get the real experience. Figure skating, basketball and soccer all use the nunchuk for player movement. Figure skating involves following a series of little yellow circles and once you reach a big red, blue or green circle you have to lift the remote quickly to do a spin. Basketball is fairly simple. Push A,B or Z to pass and raise then lower the remote like your throwing a basketball. Soccer is even easier, there’s no need for A button passes just quickly move the remote up and down to pass and shoot.
As for the sounds and graphics there’s really not much to say on the subject. Graphics are sub-par, if you’ve played any Wii sports games you’ll know what to expect, cartoonish graphics with awkward smiles and eyes. Player movement is very basic, and at times don’t follow with the controls. Also a little more effort could have been put into details like the crowd. Instead of having a cardboard crowd some 3-D people would be nice. As for the sound it’s more basic than the graphics. The sounds isn’t terrible, it just doesn’t seem like much effort was thrown into visuals or graphics. But a game like this isn’t all about graphics or sound, it’s about gameplay, unfortunately…
In no way should Deca sports be played alone, it’s very hard to have fun with badminton or any sport when there’s no point to it. If th e game is played in multiplayer with a friend or two it’s really only fun if you play each sport once. The game lacks variations in sports themselves and the mix of sports is so strange that most people will only enjoy 3 or 4 of the sports. Like I said the graphics and sound are sub-par and the game modes don’t hold much value.
The controls at times don’t work, or either are too touchy. As for the AI they’re either absolutely terrible or tough. Also back to the controls, there wasn’t much thought put behind different ways to use the Wiimote, it’s just swinging the remote around. Unfortunately there isn’t much good about this game, so little in fact there’s nothing I can think of except that the games are a little fun if played with someone, but only for one go of each game. I wouldn’t recommend this game as a rental or a purchase. Unless you have a young kid that likes all kind of sports and want a family friendly game then you could try this one, but there’s others out there that are far better for the same price. Or you could just stick to Wii sports.
Gameplay:3.5, Graphics: 4, Sound: 4, Innovation: 3, Mojo: 1 Final: 3.1 / 10
|
Reviewed by Chris G.| 06.03.08 |
-
MultiSports competition in 10 different events
-
Multiple Gameplay modes such as single tournament or open match
-
Play with up to 4 players
-
Exclusively designed for the Wii controllers
|