According to the back of the box, Summer Athletics promises to offer “multiplayer fun for the entire family”, a “charming 3D comic style”, and “intuitive controls”. While a number of Wii games can claim to offer “multiplayer fun for the entire family”, there have been few games that can brag about graphics or “intuitive controls”.

Could Summer Athletics join these few and actually live up to the back of the box? Read on to find out!

I really wanted to like this game. Maybe it’s because I’m so pumped from the Summer Olympics, or maybe I just wanted a new Wii game to play, but I really wanted to like this game. Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want.

NOT WII SCREENS.

Presentation-wise, the game isn’t terrible. The main menu is actually very nice, and better than most games out there. It’s quick and easy to do anything because of the Wii pointer controls, the music is pleasant (and reminiscent of National Treasure), and there are absolutely no load times. Other developers really need to look at the way the menu is structured in this game, because most games don’t do it nearly as well. However, after you get past the menu, things take a turn for the worse.

After choosing an event, and then a short load time, you are greeted by a sight that Wii owners are all too familiar with: PS2 quality graphics. The graphics are not terrible (like the non-character graphics in No More Heroes), but they are stiff and bland. If this was the games only problem, then it would be in good shape, but that’s not the case, unfortunately.

The game feels like a spiritual sequel to Konami’s old Track and Field games, so the control needs to be spot on for this game to work. And for the most part, it is. Once you figure it out, that is. The on-screen instructions are convoluted and filled with confusing diagrams. It took me about ten tries in the swimming events before I figured out how to hold my controller. Once, I figured it out though, it worked fairly well. But that leads to another problem, making sort-of-similar-to-the-real-thing motions to make an on-screen character go faster just isn’t that fun. So even if you get past the slightly unintuitive controls and confusing instructions, the game just isn’t that much fun.

Imagine this, but PS2-quality.

And there really isn’t anything past these events, you can just play them in different ways. You can play a Single Event, a Competition (from a pre-selected list, or make your own), or the Career mode. The Single and Competition modes are single and multiplayer, but it doesn’t really matter which you choose, because you take turns in every event anyway. That’s right, you take turns in every single event. That includes running, swimming and all the other events that should have more than one person playing at a time. And the Career mode isn’t any better. It is basically the same as the Competition mode, except you can’t choose events and you get to create a custom character using the character creator. One thing that is cool in the game, is that it has about 30 achievements you can get by doing things like getting a perfect push off a wall in swimming, or creating a custom competition.

So the game is not great, but I think it goes deeper than just being a so-so game. I just really don’t think that you can make a game based on the Olympics. I mean, why not just go outside and have a real race? Why stay inside and shake your controllers and just pretend to race? The real thing is more fun and infinitely more satisfying. Beyond this, there just isn’t that much to do after you’ve played all the events. You can try and get all the achievements, but you won’t have much fun doing it. And not even the multiplayer can save it, because you have to take turns on everything. The game itself isn’t terrible, but it’s pretty much the epitome of an average game. You play it, but you aren’t having fun or being miserable, you’re just playing. It’s like watching Corner Gas. Fans of Sonic and Mario at the Olympics that have $30 to spare may enjoy it to some extent, but everyone else should just stay away.

Summer Athletics Official Site