Summer is just around the corner as I write this, which means all kinds of outdoor activities, but sometimes, it's just not the best weather for that stuff. Storms and extremely hot weather, depending where you live, can hamper a day of outdoor fun, but if you have a Wii, you can play outdoor sports all year, no matter what the weather. Since the Wii shipped with Wii Sports, we know that the Wii and sports games go together like pigskin and goalposts, but how does Destineer's Summer Sports score for family fun?

The title consists of 9 games: Badminton, Horseshoes, Croquet, Lawn Darts, Volleyball, Mini Golf, and 3 basketball games: Around the World, Horse, and Shot Clock.

• Badminton: Controls can be a bit difficult to get used to, even though you mainly just use the Wiimote as a badminton racket. Not too forgiving, if you swing too early, you don't get another swing, no matter how far away the birdie is, and as is often the case, too subtle a swing will not register at all. (I'm starting to think this is a shortcoming of the Wiimote, as I've seen the same problem in many games.) Also, for people on vacation, they don't talk to each other much. A little voice acting would make the game a whole lot more engaging. Having to see a transition screen before every serve gets irritating after a while, too. Can't the game engine just show the characters walking into position? All that said, it's still a decent game to play once in a while, but one match is generally enough.
• Horseshoes: This game moves very slowly. Like an amusement park ride, you spend more time waiting than actually playing. The gameplay is fun and very much like the real game, though.
• Croquet: Croquet requires a certain feel for the weight of the mallet and ball, and this is lost with a virtual mallet and ball, and the aforementioned Wiimote small movement shortcoming aside, this game is very enjoyable. It's still a bit slow, but noticeably faster than Horseshoes.
• Lawn Darts: Lawn Darts can be a rather dangerous sport, so a virtual version can be just the thing for younger players. In this game, you must take wind, which inexplicably changes from one player's turn to the next, into account, giving what would normally be a variation on horseshoes much more strategy. This game also runs much faster than horseshoes and is a lot of fun (although slightly faster would still be better--it spends too much time on the screen showing where your dart hit with no ability to hustle it along.). Birds occasionally fly by with "5 Points" signs to encourage a quick shot for bonus points. The "Miss" and "Bulls-eye" animations and sound effects are amusing the first time, but you'll fairly quickly wish you could skip past them.
• Volleyball: Much like badminton but with a partner, beach volleyball uses the same controls, except with the added complexity of the "bump-set-spike" option. While this adds to the challenge of the game and the fun, it may be prohibitive to the youngest players, although those players can just volley the ball back. This one moves along at a decent speed and is one of the better games in the set, but again, a little talk would add a lot.
• Mini Golf: Mini Golf allows you to play 9 holes or a set of 3 (1st, middle, or last for variety). The holes show a lot of imagination and are better than all but the most expensive real courses, including everything from a pirate ship to a medieval castle complete with dragon to an Area-51/crop circle theme and more, since virtual courses are easier to build and distribute than real obstacles. The camera, when following the ball, could be occasionally jittery, as could certain sound effects, but while noticeable, this had no effect on actual gameplay. Character animations lack here, but the beautiful courses make up for that. Audio is decent, and each course has music to match the theme, but when narrowly missing the hole, a crowd can be heard gasping "Oh!" but I can't figure out where that sound is supposed to come from or why the same crowd doesn't cheer when the ball finally goes in. The variation in themes alone makes this game fun to play, and decent controls make it fun for all ages.
• Basketball: Basketball can be played on 2 different courts, a driveway or a full court. All basketball games require only shooting, which works as expected, and while it takes some getting used to, control is very sensitive and can be mastered.
  • Around the World: Work your way around the free throw area with consecutive baskets. A missed basket allows for another shot to be gambled to keep going, but if you miss, you're sent back to your starting place. First one to make it all the way around wins, and different numbers of positions can be chosen for shorter or longer games.
  • Horse: In this mode, you can choose any word, 5 characters or less, that you'd like. Rather straightforward, as long as you get the hang of the controls, you'll have no major problems here. One strange ideosyncracy (bug?): hitting the net but not going through the rim still counts as a "Swish". Also, when playing against the computer players, if eliminated first, you have to sit through the rest of the computer players finishing the game, which can take several minutes. You can quit from the pause menu, but you then
  • Shot Clock: Make as many shots from a single position as possible within the time limit, then take turns waiting for the other players.

Unlike many Wii games, you can't use your Mii and instead must choose from 10 "island guests," each of which has his/her own strengths and weaknesses, thus adding some additional strategy to the game. This may be a pro or con. Personally, I'd prefer using my Mii and adjusting character stats.

Besides just winning or losing, you can also score accolades for attaining certain goals within the game, like a certain number of volleys in a row in Badminton, so even if you lose, you may still add a few points to your profile.

One area that this game gets right is the feel of the game. It definitely feels, lack of voices notwithstanding, like a Caribbean resort. Tikis, sand, and Palm trees fill the menu screens to give a feel for the game theme.

Many of the games include a "Taunt" button, which sounded like a fun way to break the other users' concentration, but I could never get the taunt to work, and the manual offers no specific details on its use.

The game can be played by up to 4 players, and instead of splitscreen mode, all players see the entire playing field or take turns, as applicable, which works very well for these kinds of games.

The game is rated "E" and contains nothing offensive. Characters don't even wear bikinis, although some of their shorts are a bit tight and low-cut, but we were looking for these things--kids wouldn't likely notice it.

While Summer Sports creates a decent game experience for a family or group of friends, I don't recommend getting this collection if you plan to play mainly alone. If your children can handle the controls of Wii Sports, they'll have no problem with these games, so if your family would normally enjoy playing the real equivalents of these games, they'll likely enjoy this title as well. It's not as polished as Wii Sports, but it's fun and offers something for everyone.