Sports Champions (PlayStation 3) review "It’s a title made up of little-known yet completely enthralling games that were put together extremely well, their mechanics scrutinized and the focused placed almost entirely on gameplay. If it were to be judged simply as a game, Sports Champions would rank incredibly high…"

The title of Sports Champions is somewhat misleading. Rather than entering a world of favorites like football, basketball, hockey or even soccer, Champions’ lineup consists mostly of games you would only see late at night on ESPN The Ocho. Highlighting games such as Disc Golf (Frisbee golf otherwise known as Frolf), Table Tennis, Archery and Beach Volleyball, they’ve also included one less-known sport called Bocce (don’t worry if you have no idea what that is; I didn’t either) and a non-existent game called Gladiator Duel.

Granted, doing this is risky. Who’s honestly going to say A game about Bocce?! Awesome! One copy of Sports Champions, please? One guy in Idaho probably, and he’s eighty years old and doesn’t have a Playstation. Most people will see that and pass on it completely.

Don’t.

Banking solely on obscurity is a gamble, yes, but it’s one that entirely pays off. We have games about football and basketball. The market is over saturated with them. We don’t have Archery. We don’t have Frolf. We don’t have Beach Vo…well, okay there is that one, but not done this well. This is new. Fun. By picking games that have never been showcased, Sports Champions can keep it casual and entertaining. They don’t have to try and re-create the sport or try to add a new element to keep it fresh. It’s like that on its own.

And by doing so, they don’t gum it up with silly ideas or ridiculous additions. They’ve focused solely on the mechanics of each sport, and made it entertaining by keeping it straightforward. There’s relatively no story mode in Sports Champions, aside from three different difficulty levels in the form of Champion Cups—bronze, silver and gold—and a roster of 10 playable characters (more to be unlocked later) each with their own short bio, so it’s easy to get right into the action, learning the games and eventually challenging the other players in each Cup.

Most of the games are to-the-point, and strictly for an entertainment value. Table Tennis is virtually an intense, power swinging match of ping-pong and Disc Golf is the idea of hurling a Frisbee across an open plane or body of water to its intended target. Even Bocce—as complicated as it sounds—is a game of simplicity. The first player starts by throwing a small ball known as a Pallino onto a rectangular grass field. After that the second player rolls a much larger ball—a Bocce—as close to the Pallino as possible. From there, the opposition rolls. If they get closer the control switches back. If not, they have four more attempts to close the gap. If they fail to do so, the player with the least amount of space gets a point for each Bocce they have that’s closer than the opponents. It takes precision and control, but simple to learn and easy to follow—even in an inebriated state. That’s always a bonus, right?

Gladiator Duel is even less complicated but even more involved. The best way I can describe it is by referring to it as a battle with plastic Light Sabers—meaning it looks intimidating and violent, but no real harm comes from it. Two players take the field adorned in body armor, wielding massive hammers or glinting blades in one hand, a shield in the other. From there, it’s utter chaos, each swinging trying to hit the other’s head or legs, blocking blows with their shield or leaping back to safety. You have the option of either completely depleting your opponent’s HP or knocking them out of the ring. Though it sounds brutal, there’s no blood or wounds present. I’m pretty sure they’re playing with foam weapons. Regardless, it’s crazy entertaining and adds an element of variety to the roster.

A game that adds variety to the rounds is Archery.

Archery? That’s just shooting an arrow at a target, isn’t it True Baby?

Not so, loyal Truep. While the first round begins that way it’s not to last. Archery is perhaps the most ingenious and varied of all the sports. Bullseye targets pop out of the ground and float side to side to provide a challenge. Bags of money are hurled through the air and innocent fruit sits atop a pedestal waiting to be driven through. One battle returns you to the stationary bullseye, but at random another target will pop up and the first person to hit it will put up a barricade in front of their opponent’s range. Another level is made up of a squared grid with nine sections. Hitting one will shift it to either an X or an O, depending on the player, turning it into a fast-paced, steady aim required game of tic-tac-toe. I won’t spoil anymore (though I will say Zombies), Archery was without question the most entertaining game in Sports Champions, but know that’s not said with ease.

It’s a title made up of little-known yet completely enthralling games that were put together extremely well, their mechanics scrutinized and the focused placed almost entirely on gameplay. If it were to be judged simply as a game, Sports Champions would rank incredibly high…

But let’s be honest, shall we? As one of the first official games released with the Move means this review isn’t only about Sports Champions, but the hardware as well. Perhaps even a comparison to the more popular motion-gaming franchise.

So how good, really, is the Move?

It is everything loyal Sony fans have been waiting for. Quite possibly, even beyond it.

Move plays off of the Playstation Eye, as opposed to a motion sensor bar. This means, in simple terms, an entirely new range of movement. Archery requires that you reach behind you to pull out an arrow, then put the controller straight forward. The Move captures every path your arm creates from beginning to end—even when you’re pointed straight up in the air or directly to the ground. If the camera can see the detection bulb (that funny little colored thing at the top of the controller) the game registers it. Even if you happen to go out of the massive range, it picks up the controller the moment it’s back into view. Many a times in Gladiator Duel, often in a panic, I swung my arm well out of typical range and the game didn’t miss a beat. Such only spurred me on and my nervous, unflinching act of pointing directly at the screen—fearful of a hiccup that may cost me a match—was a thing of the past. I spun and whipped my arms like the Tazmanian Devil riding a jackhammer. I jabbed forward for a Shield Bash and the Eye caught it—something even my Wii can’t do.

Move has three axis sensors, as opposed to two, meaning it’s even more accurate in how it registers the angle of the controller. A fact I learned the hard way when I whipped my arm forward—failing to realize that I turned my wrist at the end—and I saw my perfect game of Frolf go down the drain—my Frisbee sailing over the port by over two feet. I cursed my Move; then praised it and lavished it with comments.

Sports Champions also allows the use of two controllers for several games like Archery, Volleyball and Duel but since they communicate via bluetooth, there’s no annoying cord between them. When I hold my left arm out to aim my bow, then reach back with my right to draw I don’t strangle myself in a frenzy to hit the target. Nor do I have to worry about how long my arms are, or take it easy. When I’m keeping my left arm down by my feet to block a sword, I can freely yank back and swing with my right without fear of ripping out a cord—only my shoulder from its socket.

You want to know how the Move stacks up to Wii? The Move is freedom. It’s no longer a tight-knit box that we players must adhere to avoid the annoying warning screen that we’re out of range. It’s a full body, arms flailing, completely involved and enthralled experience that sapped every bit of energy I had, but was without question the most entertained I’ve ever been. Sports Champions was the perfect game to showcase everything the Move has to offer.

Wii did it first; Sony did it right.

So if you’ve questioned it up until now, give in. Buy into the hype. It’s worth every penny.

Staff review by Greg Knoll (September 22, 2010) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.