Wii Boxing Impressions

Of the five sports, boxing has been the biggest surprise. I really like this game. There is a lot of motion in the game, between jabbing and dodging and blocking, you've always got your hands and upper torso moving. After a couple of matches, I can tell that I've used my body. I wouldn't put it in the level of heavy exercise, but it definitely gets your heart going. I suppose when I get more comfortable with the controls, I'll be able to use less energy to play, but for now, it's a great way to get some light exercise at home in short intervals.

Each match is a simple, 3-round contest against a random opponent. As you earn status points, your opponents increase in difficulty. I’m currently in the 600-point range, but my improvement has leveled off. I’m now losing about as many matches as I win.

For the most part, the controls in boxing seem good, but there are times when I feel like my boxer isn’t responding to how I move the controls. There are other times when the controls seem too sensitive: a small twitch results in a big hit. Still, this is more likely to be my fault than the controls fault, and I am getting better with each match.

Boxing is clearly the most strenuous of the five games. The second night we had our Wii, I boxed for about an hour. The next day my arms were aching from all the motion. This is both a plus (good exercise) and a minus (can’t play for a long time).