Wii Sports Club

Wii Sports Club
It's not a club, it's a rehash of the original with microtransactions thrown in!
Protagonist(s): The player's Mii Genre(s): Sports Simulation Platform(s): Wii U Release Date: EU: July 11, 2014 AU: July 12, 2014 JP: July 17, 2014 NA: July 25, 2014 Developer(s): Bandai Namco Entertainment Nintendo EAD Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Wii Sports Predecessor: Wii Sports Resort Successor: Nintendo Switch Sports

Wii Sports Club is a sports simulation game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment and Nintendo EAD, with Nintendo acting as the publisher, for the Wii U. It is an HD remastered version of Wii Sports, and the third game in the Wii Sports series.

Bad Qualities

1. The game is little more than a rehash of Wii Sports, just with HD graphics rather than new games or modes. This makes it a missed opportunity to include more sports like its predecessor did, such as Basketball or Volleyball.
2. This game is one of Nintendo's very first to follow their infamous "release it now, finish it later" model: at launch, only two sports (Tennis and Bowling) were programmed into the game, with Golf following three weeks later, then Baseball and Boxing came about six months after the original release date.
   • In short, players had to wait seven months to get the full HD experience of the original game, which will later be repeated (albeit lasting about two years) in Nintendo Switch Sports.
3. Similarly to Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, individual sports cost real money, which is unacceptable for a AAA game and feels like it belongs in a free-to-play mobile game. While it may have worked for the former game due to its nature as a free-to-play game, this game had to be paid for physically or digitally for full price.
   • What's more, the last three sports had to be paid for using Rental Passes each day.
   • Once the Wii U eShop shut down, you could no longer purchase any of the sports available, thus proving that players wasted all of their money for nothing, similarly to Nintendo Badge Arcade.
4. While on the topic of the game's graphics, they look like they were taken right out of the original game and upscaled into HD quality, which makes the game look lifeless and having no enhancements, particularly in Golf.
5. You were required to be connected to the Internet in order to even play the game, which makes no sense considering that the original game has no such requirement. An Internet connection was most likely only required so you could purchase the games individually.
   • To rub salt on the wound, now that the Wii U's Internet services have been shut down, you can no longer play the game at all, making this port lost to time.
6. Boxing is even worse in this version, as characters no longer have a realistic feel for punching, which makes the fight anti-climactic. Also, just like every other sport in this port, you are required to use a Wii Motion Plus, which is more expensive than your normal Wiimote.
7. Overpriced: The full game cost $40 despite being nothing more than an HD remastered version of the original game.
8. Just to add insult to injury, you can play the original Wii Sports due to the Wii U's backwards-compatibility with Wii games, thus making this "port" pointless.

Good Qualities

1. This version of the game introduces eleven new CPU Miis, each of them using facial features introduced in the 3DS/Wii U's Mii Maker and replacing the ones from the Wii; these were also carried over into Wii Party U.
2. All of the sports besides Boxing are just as enjoyable as the original, and still fun for family and friends to compete in.
3. While the game requires an Internet connection to even play, it is useful for the new online multiplayer feature, which is also the main mode of Nintendo Switch Sports.
4. The main theme is nice, and even got a remix in Smash Ultimate, while the original soundtrack is just as good as it was in the original version.
5. There are several new challenges to play in this port, such as the 100-Pin Challenge in Bowling or Golf's Bingo Golf.

Reception

Wii Sports Club received mixed reviews from critics and users (scoring 68/100 and 7.0/10, respectively, on Metacritic), but mixed-to-negative reviews from fans of the Wii Sports series, who criticized the lack of new content, having to pay for individual sports, and the port being little more than the original with upscaled graphics and microtransactions.

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