Deca Sports 2: 2 Random, 2 Frustrating, Maybe Not 2 Late
Company: Hudson Soft
Not sporting the fancy graphics engine of other next-gen consoles, the Nintendo Wii has survived (and thrived) by featuring fun and highly interactive games that are easy to learn and, more times than not, multiplayer by design. This has led to a plethora of mini-game compilation releases, including Deca Sports, released in May 2008. While receiving only marginal reviews from critics, it was still one of the best selling games of the genre. Now, Hudson Soft is preparing to release a follow-up cleverly entitled Deca Sports 2.
For those unfamiliar with these types of games, they generally consist of various team or individual sports, pared down to take advantage of the Wii-mote and the motion sensitivity of the Wii. There are so many of these releases in the genre that the producers are having to really get creative in finding new and interesting mini-games to include in the newer products. This fact is very evident in Deca Sports 2, which features 10 extremely disparate games including ice hockey, dodge ball, darts, speed skating, mogul skiing, petanque, kendo, motorcycle road racing, and even synchronized swimming. Though several of these sound interesting in theory (virtual Kendo, anyone?), the four that I was able to sample in the preview version left a lot to be desired.
The demo disc contained two team sports and two individual (well, sort of) games. The team sports were ice hockey and dodge ball. The full game touts more team customization, including uniform branding, team organization and more. For sake of the demo, I chose to play as one of the several pre-set teams. Controls were simple, almost too simple, and neither game posed much of a challenge playing against the computer-controlled teams. Both of these games made use of the Wii-mote and the Nunchuk. Darts, while the most entertaining of the four games I sampled, still caused frustration in the control department. Holding the Wii-mote much like a dart, the player takes aim and tries to hit the target dartboard. However, the shakiness and over-sensitivity never quite gave me the feel of actually having decent control over my virtual missile. The final game, petanque, is one that I was not familiar with. The game begins by throwing out a small target object called a jack. Then players take turn throwing weighted balls at the target, trying to get the closest, either by aiming at the target or by knocking your opponent's balls away. This game goes on for several rounds, until one player has accumulated 9 points. I must confess that the throwing control (or lack thereof) using the Wii-mote was the most irritatingly frustrating activity I have attempted in some time and was the cause of several outbursts which garnered unpleasant glares from my wife.
I enjoy mini-game compilations, as they are fun to play with my children and are generally a good value for the money in terms of replayability. As interesting as some of the games in Deca Sports 2 sound, the control scheme and general apathetic attitude I felt after playing through these four examples did not make me immediately add this one to my "must-play" list. While it initially seems like a creative adventure that has veered a bit too far off course, I do applaud Hudson Soft for taking a risk and finding some less-mainstream offerings. With two months left until release, there is still time to salvage what, in my opinion, could be an interesting group of games. An overall tweaking of the controls would go a long way to increase the appeal and enjoyability of Deca Sports 2.
-The Mung Bard, GameVortex Communications AKA Buddy Ethridge
Related Links: Hudson's Website
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