Good news for Wii fans: If you don’t feel like playing as Tiger Woods y’all, the famous EA Gameface option is intact on the Wii port, which allows you to make a freakishly realistic-looking, playable version of yourself. The bad news: All those options don’t seem so cool when you’re struggling through the screens with an awkward-ass modification scheme that’ll have you begging for a conventional controller. If you make it past the first few frustrating hours of Wii-mote waving, you’re rewarded with some pretty sweet golfing action — much better than the Wii Sports golf mode. The swinging method — especially fading and drawing — takes a bit of getting used to, but the graphics aren’t bad, and most of the game modes are addictive and fun.
Games like Metroid are essential for keeping the Wii from becoming a party-game-reliant novelty item. Thanks to the awesome control scheme (the best for Wii since Zelda), I’m finally convinced decent first-person shooters are possible on Nintendo’s console. Those of us Wii-boosters who’d resigned ourselves to the frustratingly inconsistent controls of Red Steel — arguing that that FPSes won’t get much better on the system — are looking pretty stupid.
As expected, the main difference between the two games is in the turning. Samus’s motion-controlled gunsight actually controls her pivoting well enough for you to spin toward and even kill offscreen baddies before they slowly kill you, great news for both Wii-owning FPS fans and those wanting to reduce obscenity in the home.
Even better, there’s a great game behind the sweet control scheme. The puzzles’ graphics and mostly incoherent storyline will keep you playing long after you’ve become accustomed to the controls. Pity the next FPS that comes out with substandard movement and aiming. There’ll be no more excuses.
