Golf: No, I didn’t typo; regular Golf is on here too. This also plays like the Wii Sports version, but with a few new courses and MotionPlus compatability. I’m lousy at virtual Golf regardless of whether I have a 1:1 motion thingamabob on my Wii Remote or not, so I felt little difference here. Still, the new courses might interest some players.

Power Cruising - Slalom and Versus: One of the other games requiring a Nunchuk, you hold both controllers horizontally as if they were the handlebars to a water bike. You race against time to drive between posts as quickly as possible, with bonuses for extremely precise play. Versus play is similar, just against other people.

Swordplay - Duel: A very popular choice amongst guests I showed Wii Sports Resort to, this mode pits you against either an AI opponent or another human, fighting in a circular ring with fake swords and padded armor in an attempt to knock each other away from the playing field; nobody really gets hurt. This mode is perhaps one of the best demonstrations of the Wii MotionPlus’ potential, as despite being a relatively simple game it accurately tracks some (but not all) real world sword styles. On the other hand, many AI opponents up until the ’Pro’ levels don’t require real world sword skills to beat; I let a nine year old boy play it at one point and he just wildly waved the Wii Remote from left to right. The result was surprisingly effective until later levels, and his Mii was producing attacks that looked like something from an anime series. You can imagine my surprise!

Swordplay - Speed Slice: A mix of speed and precision, a judge tosses two objects down; one to you, one to your AI or human opponent. Each object is marked with the angle you need to cut it at, and the first player to do the correct cut scores a point. A decent diversion, by any measure.

Swordplay - Showdown: Similar to Duel, but rather than trying to bump one durable opponent out of the ring, you fight your way through dozens of foes. Like Duel, a child going berserk with the Wii Remote will do just fine for the first few stages, though the AI enemies soon learn how to block and will require more thoughtful play after a while. A very fun mode, if only because you get to look like a live action roleplaying nerd samurai movie hero, sort of.

Table Tennis - Match and Return Challenge: This is exactly what it says it is, it’s tennis on a small table, bouncing plastic balls back and forth. The Return Challenge mode is a little different, in that your opponent never tries to hit balls back, he just keeps making you return shots to see how many in a row you can hit. A passable diversion, though not one of the best modes in Resort by any means.

Wakeboarding: Another good example of the MotionPlus’ potential, you’re on a wakeboard and ride behind a boat, jumping off the waves it creates. Pulling the Wii Remote up just before you hit a wave makes you jump, letting you perform stunts and re-center yourself to land cleanly on the water for points. Doing multiple tricks in a row (and/or harder tricks in general) earns you more points, of course. The major challenge is doing a sufficiently interesting stunt and landing level on the water, which gets to be harder than it looks when you get suitably complex. A simple but fun mode.

Conclusion: Bearing in mind that you’re technically paying $25-30 for the games on the disc, and the rest of the price covers your first MotionPlus, Wii Sports Resort is a decent deal. Yes, a few of the games are boring or are taken from the original Wii Sports with only minor differences with the MotionPlus attachment, but most are genuinely fun and show a lot of potential. Plus this makes for a decent party game, letting just about anyone quickly get in and play with some proficiency right away. So long as you understand that Resort is not going to be a fifty hour epic blockbuster game, and is instead meant to be both accessible fun for all as well as an example of the MotionPlus’ capabilities, you’ll be well served by this release.