Boxing

Boxing always was and remains the weakest of these Wii Sports events, and we've been left disappointed after testing out the potential of its improved controls on Wii U. Notorious as "that crazy waggle game" on Wii, in which two gladiators would frantically flick their wrists and look rather silly, this is now a fiddly, awkward experience.

There are two control options, first of all, the best being two MotionPlus Remotes — one in each hand. We headed straight for the Training modes to test them out: Pro Puncher, in which you aim punches as quickly as possible, Speed Bag in which you follow instructions to hit passing targets, and Duck and Dodge, where you avoid tennis balls and knock out targets. They all work reasonably as exercises, though it can be a challenge to convert your motions into accurate punches, our lack of accuracy being brutally exposed in these exercises. Adjusting the height of punches is the biggest issue, while registering hooks and uppercuts can be tricky if the Remotes keep registering jabs while positioning the controllers — this could be a minor problem in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, too, though that was a largely fluent, impressive experience once mastered. Boxing, on the other hand, still seems to register gestures too readily rather than tracking the hands, leading to false shots and an instinct to simple flick the wrist to jab; playing properly will probably result in crushing defeats online.

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Fighting others online is functional and seemed reasonably lag free, for us, though with the stilted controls and awkward manoeuvres even a bit of lag doesn't influence proceedings a great deal. We didn't feel like we were engaged in a skilful bout of elite sporting combat, but rather like a slightly frustrated gamer wondering why our goofy Mii threw a hook when the gesture was clearly an uppercut; it's a failure in immersion. When playing Boxing it feels like an afterthought, a throwaway experience.

We said there were two control schemes, the second of which is a one-handed mode in which you just use one Wii RemotePlus controller. It's basically the same but with your boxer only throwing one set of punches — Nunchuks aren't supported due to their limited motion detection capabilities — and it feels rather silly. While practical for those without lots of compatible Remotes — we used it for some local splitscreen play — it's simply not enjoyable. Overall, Boxing fails to live up to any of the other sports in this package.