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It's been a long time since the purchase of a gaming system came with a game. I remember a Christmas morning some years ago. Santa had brought a Nintendo Entertainment System and it came with the Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and Nintendo Track and Field cartridge. It also had the light gun for shooting ducks/skeet, and the power-pad for running and jumping for Track and Field. (Ah the power-pad... But that's another review.) But I do remember countless hours of family fun playing just these three games. (Still couldn't figure out how to shoot that dog...)

Point is, unless I'm mistaken, that is the last time I got a game free with purchase of a system. So when I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Wii, I was mildly impressed that it had Wii Sports included. I had deliberately avoided reading too many reviews on the game, as I wanted to play it with a fresh and open mind (kind of like not wanting to know Vader is Luke's father the first time you saw ESB).

Wii Sports has five sports: boxing, bowling, golf, tennis, baseball. And like that cartridge that came with my NES all those years ago, Wii Sports offers the promise of countless hours of fun, either alone or in a group, without having to invest hours learning needlessly complicated button combinations. "Hard-core" Gamers should be aware: if it's a fully photo-realistic time you’re looking for in a sports game, steer clear of Wii Sports.( Although if you need me to tell you that, then you're probably not all that hardcore to begin with) The backgrounds, music, characters and other details are very Nintendo with a look that's more cartoony and fun then rendered to be realistic.

My personal favorite sport in the package is golf. The Wii Remote acts as your clubs, and the distance your shots travel depend on how true your swing is. Swing too hard, and your shot slices. Too soft, and it dribbles its way up the fairway. Oh yeah, and you'd better make sure you're paying attention to the wind conditions on your long shots, and check the break of the green for the short game. Players have the option to play a three hole game set at beginner, intermediate, and expert. There's also the option to go out and play all nine holes. True golf aficionados (which I'm not) will be disappointed by the lack of club selection- you only get to pick a driver, iron, wedge or putter. But coming from someone who has never really had much use for the game of golf, I have to admit that few video games offer as relaxing an experience as getting out on these links for an hour or so and working out my wicked slice.

Bowling is an easy choice for my second favorite sport in this title, and there have been some games I've played with the rest of the Gamervision editorial staff that would give golf a strong run for that number one spot (did you hear that Ludacris?) The Wii Remote is your bowling ball, and the game play is really simple: bowl. No need to change your shoes, no need to learn how to keep score (who really knows how to do that anyway?). Just grab the Wii Remote and roll away. The only thing that keeps this from being my favorite sport in this game: me. I just can't consistently bowl well. So, like any good gamer, I blame the game.

Tennis, baseball and boxing all sort of hover in the same 3rd-5th best game range in my opinion. Granted, I've bowled and golfed at like a 3:1 ratio, and it may just be that I haven't given the other three enough of a chance. But here's the thing. Baseball games, whether real or video, take a long time to complete. Same thing for a full match of tennis. And if I'm going to be spending up to and including an hour playing my Wii, I'm playing Zelda or something similar where I'm moving forward.

Overall I'd have to say that Wii Sports is a great first title and has infinite replay value. Getting a group of people in a room and competing in these silly and cartoony competitions all night long is the closest a game has come to reproducing that feeling of getting a new game system on Christmas morning.

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