Photo gallery: Celebrity Sports ShowdownIt quickly became clear to us after a few rounds of Celebrity Sports Challenge that the programming team at EA were trying to emulate the wild success of Wii Sports. To their credit, they mostly succeeded; the dozen events on offer — which range from mountain climbing to Gladiators-style jousting to combat plane flying — stand out from the pack of bland Wii mini-games compilations, simply because they're easy to control and to learn how to play. This leaves more room for multiplayer fun, and less for frustration. At the same time, there's no denying, that, like Wii Sports, they're about as shallow as the celebrity culture they take on board. Unless you've always got multiple players on board, the game's long term appeal is low.
The celebrities on offer are very US-centric — and while token Aussie Keith Urban makes an unlikely cameo, you're also playing with characters based on Avril Lavigne and Fergie, as well as some lesser-known (in Australia) types like Reggie Bush or Paul Pierce. They're presented in caricature format, and honestly don't make that much difference to the game, beyond the mild thrill you get when first pummelling Lavigne's face in with a jousting stick. Or shooting her with missiles. Or smacking her in the face with a dodge ball.... sorry, where were we?
Sixty bucks is probably too much to ask for this particular set of games — there's a real reason why Wii Sports is a "free" pack-in game — but it's worth looking out for once it starts hitting the bargain bins, because it is simple fun and better than most of the competing mini-game compilations already on the market.
2%
1%
