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CELEBRITY SPORTS SHOWDOWN Posted by Dan Pearson on Nov 7, 2008 08:54 (Nov 7, 2008 08:54) |
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Showdown is EA’s answer to Wii Sports, but will this game have the whole family jumping around the living room?
There are 12 games in total to wave your Wiimote at and each one requires a slightly different movement. You start by selecting your star to use, there are a few known faces like Fergie, Sugar Ray Leonard, and the rather random Nelly Furtado, but I must admit, some of them I have no idea of like Paul Pierce and Kristi Yamaguchi, I must be getting old.
In Beach Volleyball its two against two, you swing the Wiimote up to set up, press A to jump and swing down to smash the ball, you can have some really long rally’s but the most enjoyment is when playing with human opponents as the game players tend to be a bit easy to beat. Another of the games included is Inner Tubing which has you being dragged around a water course by a speedboat, you need to jump and collect points without being hit by obstacles and the other players.
 Elsewhere in the vast selection of games you also have Wild Water Canoeing which is a very fun level where you use both Wii controllers to paddle alternative sides of the canoe, time it right and you will fly ahead of the opposition. Hurdle Derby meanwhile has you holding the Wiimote horizontally and shaking it up and down like crazy to gain speed, you steer by tilting and press the 2 button to make your horse jump the hurdles. Also included is Slalom Showdown which shows off a great skiing engine ready to be made into its own game, (would love to see Tricky make a comeback) you hold the Wiimote like a joystick and control your character by tilting. The aim is to go through the gates in order, miss one and you loose time. You have a speed boost that runs out every time you use it but you can recharge by puling off stunts on the ramps scattered around the course.
The remaining games which you will come across include Cliff Hangers which is one of my favourites; you climb using the d-pad and you can leap and grab by flicking the Wiimote and pressing B. In this you are able to collect powerups to throw at your opposition, causing them to lose grip and slow right down. Next is Rapid Fire Archery where you need to pull back with the Wiimote, aim and fire with the B. You have all 4 contenders on screen firing at the same targets so speed and accuracy are vital. Unfortunately this is a lot harder as it seems as the aim assistance is on an arched trajectory and by the time you have fired, the target has moved. Then there is Air Racers where you hold the Wiimote like a paper plane and tilt and move around to dodge rocks, missiles and to fly through hoops. This is quite a fast paced level but the controls just don’t seem right and it also seems out of place when compared to the other games.
 Next up is Arena Dodgeball which is a two vs. two game where you can run around and throw balls at each other to gain points. You can pull off some great dodges by flicking the Wiimote, this is probably one of my favourite games on the disc. Finally Joust Duel has you battling against other contenders, swing your Wiimote for jabs and you can jump and dodge oncoming attacks using the d-pad.
Showdown has a healthy mix of single player and multiplayer games and tournaments. The tournaments are based on a tier knockout system, win your group and you will move on to the semi-finals and ultimately the final set of games. This mode is where you win extra characters to play as. Whilst there is a good selection they are only really for aesthetic looks rather than any sort of advantage playing as a different character, it would have been nice for example if Sugar Ray was better at the Joust Duel, Avril Lavigne good at the extreme sports like skiing or climbing, though what Fergie would be good at I would have no idea.
As with Wii Sports, there are a few lemons on this disc, but overall the party feel works really well and this may get pulled out a little more than Nintendo’s own version. The only drawback is that the use of “celebrity” may alienate some players but other than that EA have released a real solid party game.
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