After the success of its predecessor a few years back, it was inevitable a sequel was on the cards. Sports Champions 2 had a lot to live up to. It needed to include a diverse range of activities… Check. Decent graphics and sound… Check. Accurate and realistic use of your motion controller… Check. And it needed to be bags of fun to play alone or with others. With every proverbial box ticked, it seemed destined to be a game that we could recommend.

But while the game itself is pretty entertaining and there are enough sports and mini games to keep you happy and get you slightly sweaty, it left me cold and I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Many of us loved the original game and to this day, Table Tennis, Disc Golf and Archery are still good fun. Archery returns this time round, along with a few new activities but I can’t help but feel a little hard done by. Sure, reaching for a virtual  arrow and loading it into your bow feels “right” and it’s great fun taking on all-comers and smashing those moving targets in pursuit of higher scores… but wasn’t I doing that in the original?

And while the new sports (boxing, skiing, tennis, golf and bowling) are good enough to keep you occupied for hours on end, they’re hardly exciting or particularly innovative. Sure, you’ll find yourself having a laugh with a few friends as you seek yet another strike, or swing for that elusive hole in one – but you can’t help but feel you’ve seen it all before. When slugging it out in a boxing match, you’re instantly reminded of the Wii Sports version from a few years ago. While playing a round of golf, Kinect Sports 2 springs to mind, with its full body motion control. And bowling? Well, both these series have also boasted decent bowling games too. Where are the new ideas???

Personally, the highlights for me in Sports Champions 2 are the archery and the tennis – both of which seem to capture the respective sports well. The precision required to smash targets with your arrows under pressure from the AI against strict time limits is great fun, while the ability to work up a decent sweat in tennis as you work towards an epic rally kept me entertained. But frankly I’ve played much the same game of tennis time and time again using a Wiimote!

As you’d expect, Move works extremely well with Sports Champions 2. As with all motion control games, there are occasional issues when your actions may not be picked up, depending on the positioning of your body and whether it obscures the controller but, by and large, it’s all reassuringly accurate. If you have a second Move controller lying about you can use two during the events, which helps add to the realism factor somewhat and is a nice touch. There are plenty of game modes on offer too and difficulties to suit both the novice and the more experienced sportsmen. It’s certainly fun, looks nice and works well… but there’s a real sense of déjà vu while playing.

Like so many new releases these days, the developers really seem to have run out of ideas. These are pretty conventional sports that they’ve brought to the masses; there’s really nothing out of the ordinary here – and certainly nothing that screams out “buy me”. This could have been perfect as some reasonably priced DLC – a nice, inexpensive add-on to supplement your previous purchase. Sadly, even in these straightened times, us consumers are still having to pay out for a full price release rather than downloading the content for a fraction of the cost.

Solo, Sports Champions 2 is fun short term, whereas with a few friends and a few beers it’s well worth a couple of hours of reckless abandon… before you consign those expensive obscenely-shaped peripherals back to your shelf and extinguish the camera’s all-seeing blue eye until the next edition is released.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing Move or Sony. Microsoft is equally guilty of releasing games of either debatable quality or enough variety for its Kinect gizmo. How many dance/sports/fitness games do we really need, afterall?

My wish for the year ahead? I’d like more innovation and more games that offer fresh content. Stop wheeling out those conventional, tried and tested sports, and come up with something new… Now that would be a great Christmas present.

There’s something I want to say though. You need two Move controllers to play this game as intended, sure you can play with one controller as well but the experience won’t be that optimal. Most people I know who loved the first game did buy two Move controllers, though. Zindagi games shipped out a killer Move game last time around and coincidentally it is also the best selling Move game. I doubt this will replicate the original’s success but if the core fans who loved the first game–like me–still exist then, there’s a chance.

Still, not a bad time to release it when Sony has been ramping the production of Move games a lot with unique titles like Until Dawn and others. Sports Champions 2 will give you more of the same but with new modes and gametypes like golf, bowling, skiing, boxing, and tennis. I have to mention again that the splendid table tennis mode from the last game is gone, but I have found its replacement in boxing, which is not only a good workout but fun to play as well–again, two move controllers are definitely required for this.

There is a fairly linear progression for each mode and upon mastering each mode–which will be a bit difficult–and also features tiered cups steadily increasing the difficulty as you play along. The motion sensing, which was quite good in the first game, has been tweaked to become more responsive and unsurprisingly, it was last of my worries while playing the game. You still have to go through the annoying calibration mode, but it’s for good, right?

The new modes I mentioned above are all quite unique, and offer different experiences, but apart from boxing I found none of them to be interesting to be played for a longer period. I mean, I may be biased a bit when it comes to boxing since I sort of practice that in real life too, so its allure to me is higher than the other modes offered here. There’s skiing too, which is a lot of fun if you know what you’re doing, but gets quite repetitive as you keep playing it. It is also a bit frustrating and the levels don’t really branch out much. So to an extent you are just replicated the Call of Duty linear experience minus the explosions. OK well, that’s not really accurate but hey, you get my point, right?

The visuals are somewhat improved than its predecessor. Zindagi Games should not have been working on this game for more than a year because considering the the level of presentation and content on offer really suggests that it was approved by Sony later. However, what it does offer is completely worth the money to a fan of the first game, it is recommended that you own the first game as well to get the full experience  and by full experience I mean all those modes that didn’t make it in this game–which is frankly bewildering considering Blu Ray doesn’t really lack space, you know.

The new modes as I mentioned aren’t really a pain as far as the basic motion sensing is concerned, they’ve done a good job on that. What’s important is offering players good modes that they will play for a long time. Archery from the first game is available here, which is fun for a while but fatigue can set in. Or maybe if you see your arm on the floor, it’s an indication you played too much, but that won’t happen though. Golf is pretty straightforward too and the basic swinging and other mechanics works as it should, but it still feels empty overall.

Bowling is quite competent and is one mode I can say is on par with boxing, but again, not something that I would play for a long time. There’s tennis here as well, and before you start drooling, it usually tends to be a frustrating experience. It also clearly depends on personal tastes, and as they say, one man’s poison is other man’s nectar, most modes here have the potential to immerse you in the experience; it’s just a question of what mode will tick with you.

Overall, it’s something that will still excite you and offers some fun modes which, at the first impression, may not be that memorable but will grow on you. It’s still something that is just an extension of the first game, but considering the competent Move controls on offer here, you can’t really go wrong in case you decide to buy it.

This game was reviewed on the PS3.

There’s no table tennis in the game which is surprising and weird at the same time. The last game was supposed to be replayable because of table tennis, and its omission is bewildering. It does, however, have some new modes in its place like skiing, tennis, boxing, golf, bowling, and updated archery.

The game comes out soon, and our review will go up in a few days too. So stay tuned for that! Zindagi Games is an Indian studio and are quite adept at what they do.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Sports Champions 2 comes with six pulse-pounding events including five new games and an update to the beloved Archery event from the first title. The new events include Skiing, Tennis, Boxing, Golf, and Bowling, offering a variety of activities that will appeal to everyone.

Sports Champions 2 features new game modes, including Party Play, a new game feature, which invites you to compete with your family and friends in custom, multi-sport tournaments.  It will also include beginner friendly controls without needing to calibrate for easier pick-up-and-play, ensuring competitors of all ages can jump right in and join the fun, while seasoned veterans can choose advanced modes for a greater challenge.

You can check out the entire fact sheet here.

OVERVIEW:

Using the PlayStation Move motion controller and PlayStation Eye, players become part of the event as they use their controllers to compete in a variety of new sporting challenges. Building upon the highly praised game mechanics of the first title, Zindagi Games and Sony’s Worldwide San Diego Studio make it easily accessible for players of all levels to jump right into the action. Each of the six events will have you energized as you improve your backswing, bowl a strike or perfect your left hook.

Sports Champions 2 comes with six pulse-pounding events including five new games and an update to the beloved Archery event from the first title. The new events include Skiing, Tennis, Boxing, Golf, and Bowling, offering a variety of activities that will appeal to everyone.  Sports Champions 2 features new game modes, including Party Play, a new game feature, which invites you to compete with your family and friends in custom, multi-sport tournaments.  It will also include beginner friendly controls without needing to calibrate for easier pick-up-and-play, ensuring competitors of all ages can jump right in and join the fun, while seasoned veterans can choose advanced modes for a greater challenge.

For added fun, users can choose the new Create-a-Player function to customize everything from their character’s outfit to their animation and sound. As you play, unlock new clothing, equipment and accessories to keep the creativity flowing.

KEY FEATURES:

• FIVE NEW GAMES – Sports Champions 2 will feature five new games, including Skiing, Tennis, Boxing Golf and Bowling. An updated version of Archery will also be available

• ENGAGE IN FAMILY OR FRIENDLY COMPETITIONS – Host competitions and tournaments among friends and family with Party Play mode, which allows you and friends to compete in custom, multi-sports tournaments.

• ACCESSIBLE CONTROLS FOR BEGINNER PLAYERS – Sports Champions 2 will feature beginner friendly controls that will no longer require the need to calibrate for pick-up-and-play action.

• CUSTOMIZABLE EXPERIENCE – Through Create-A-Player function, players can customize everything from their character’s outfit to the sound and animation around you. Unlockables include new clothing, equipment and accessories.

• PHOTO CAPTURING – Capture customizable augmented reality photos of your winning moments with the PlaySation®Eye camera and upload them to your Facebook page.

• IN THE ACTION – Players will feel as close to the action with the accuracy and precision of the Move controller, as well as Sports Champions 2’s support for 3D TVs, providing for the most realistic sports experience.

• SINGLE AND MULTIPLAYER OPTIONS – Sports Champions supports 1-4 players through intuitive, pass-and-play gameplay or head-to-head challenges.

Sony has announced a sequel to Sports Champions which was a launch title for the PlayStation Move. The game was one of the biggest selling titles for the motion controller, so a sequel doesn’t sound so surprising.

They have also released a trailer which shows some new game modes that weren’t available in the first game. Skiing, boxing, bowling, tennis, golf and a bunch of other stuff can be seen, and hopefully the tracking in-game has been improved as well.

Sony San Diego is collaborating with Zindagi games, the latter developed the first game. It will be a Move exclusive and will be available later this year. I loved the first game a lot, especially the Table Tennis minigame was excellently done, so I’m excited to play this.

Check out the trailer below.