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Ubisoft’s Racquet Sports releases at a time when releasing new Wii product is as much a challenge in offering something not only unqiue but also something that sticks out from the endless array of mind-numbing one-play-and-toss collection of shovelware out there for Nintendo’s console.

While Racquet Sports doesn’t really offer anything new per se – plenty of Wii games have capitilized on the motion controls when it comes to emulating a racquet, or bat or some throwing or swinging motion in a sports game. What Racquet Sports does offer is a vast selection of options and customization that you normally wouldn’t find in a more mini-game orientated title (see: Wii Sports).

Read on for more of my review and video…

Granted, Racquet Sports is very simple in its approach to the motion tennis game formula. Flicking the wiimote to the left will produce a forehand shot and the opposite a backhand. Other simple manuevers result in lobs, drop shots and game-specific plays, like a volley in tennis.

That brings me to the games offered in Racquet Sports, of which their are five – all with their own look and feel, even if the general controls carry over to all five sports – which, for a family and party based title, that’s nothing to complain about. Players can select from standard tennis, badminton, squash, ping-pong and beach tennis. I couldn’t say I found any of the five boring and I actually played the other four sports more than tennis. Squash was especially fun and frantic, with the ball bouncing around all over the window-ed in play area. It was actually the last I tried – as I thought it wouldn’t really work that well, but I’d say it was the most entertaining of the five. Ping-Pong felt the most different of the five sports, due to the camera angle and the smaller play-area and unique ball physics. Due to this, it may have been the most challenging as well.

I already mentioned the basic controls, of which they aren’t that confusing. Your player actually moves on their own for the most part (except in situations where you can queue for him or her to rush the net). This is a little tough to get used to, as sometimes you feel you almost need to motion your avatar over to the ball (like “get over there!! NOW!”) but it generally works. This really sets the game up to reward the user on a shot-by-shot basis and not neccessarily for playing tennis. You’ll be generally looking for the kill shot on each offering, and not playing to set up for one. I hate to sound apologetic, but this isn’t a bad thing either. Like a lot of Wii games, Racquet Sports shoots for mass appeal here, and in that regard the gameplay does the job.

The key component for me – with this being billed as a party friendly game – was the multiplayer. I can’t recommend this game enough for those with a house-full (or dorm-full) of Wii fans. The party mode here is easily just as good as anything else on the console. Players are pitted against each other for multiple contests, but team up as double’s partners (you never know who you’ll be paired with each game though). If the first game is doubles beach tennis and you win, say, 8-4, then you and your partner get eight points and the other two get four. Next round, four doubles tennis, you’ll probably get stuck with one of the other guys. I had one party mode game come down to a 1-0 win in squash pairs to decide a first place winner. It was actually pretty exhilirating and competitive.

Players can go solo (or multiplayer) in Around the World, Championship or Tournament matches to further their characters career stats and gain unlocks. While no Mii support is not a big negative to me (it is for some), I was quite impressed by how much their is to discover in this game. There are 40 venues to play in (spread over the five sports, as they are all specific to the particular sport) as well as a large selection of unlockable characters and items to customize your in-game avatar. Outside of the multiplayer, this games strongest offering is it’s depth – which is a little at odds with a title like Racquet Sports. I’d be surprised if someone genuinely wanted to tackle everything within the single player since it is way more fun to take on friends, that’s just the nature of this style of game.

On to the controls again – as Ubisoft included its Motion Tracking Camera in the package (which is optional and the bundle sells for $39.99 as opposed to $29.99 without the camera). The camera made its debut in Your Shape, a recently released fitness game featuring Jenny McCarthy. I tried the motion tracking camera and really didn’t have much problems with it, except I found it hard to pinpoint what I wanted to specifically do. All too often I’d be smashing the ball back – mostly for good results – but I didn’t get many volleys and some smashes went right into the net. That said, it’s already far better than my experience using the Xbox Live Vision for camera-oriented games on the Xbox 360, so that’s a plus. It’s only available for solo play, but give it a shot, you might like it. I just prefered the Wiimote – especially with the Wii Motion Plus, as it gives you the ability to add top spin and slicing.

Racquet Sports may not go down in the pantheon of great Wii games – a grouping of mostly in-house Nintendo games – but Ubisoft has offered a solid grouping of simple and fun games with a surprising amount of depth to the package. Not to mention a frantic multiplayer mode that is a genuine blast to play with a group of friends. As a reviewer, it gets difficult to review the constant flow of generic Wii titles looking for something that separates them from the pack. Racquet Sports isn’t really groundbreaking, but it’s a solid all-around title that is fun to play and easy to learn and doesn’t feel like it was programmed in a day. If you love motion controlled sports games and are looking for something to complement your Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort titles in your library, you’d do well in picking this one up.