Deca Sports mind as well be Wii Sports Two, minus Miis. Hudson’s motion controlled sports game uses pre-set teams with different stats. In curling (hi Dan!) power is the main attribute that matters. If you have a heavy character chucking the stone they have three power bars to charge. A slim character only has one. The controls for throwing the stone are the same. You aim with the D-pad and make an upwards swinging motion with the remote to launch the stone. It’s like Wii Bowling with a twist.
Remember those power meters? You need to synchronize your swing with the moving power meter for the optimal shot. On paper it seems like having three power meters would be beneficial and heavy characters should dominate curling. However, if you throw the stone with three full power bars it’s going to fly past the score zone. Heavy characters do have an advantage. At maximum power they can easily knock opponent stones out of the scoring zone. Slim characters are easier to control since they only have a single power bar. At the peak of their power meter then can hit the sweet spot of the scoring zone with a little help from the sweepers. Once the stone is skating on the ice players shake the remote to melt the ice with the sweepers. The more vigorously you shake the remote the faster the virtual sweepers move their brooms.
Figure skating feels more “traditional”. You guide a skater across the ice with the analog stick and follow a trail of colored dots. Large dots activate tricks if players flick the remote while standing on them. Actually, you can do trick grabs at anytime, but you only add points to your score if you hit the mark while standing on a spotlight sized dot. Each skating session is linked to one of three songs and players can practice a specific tune. On my first go I picked the easiest song and earned a mark in the low eighties. The trick to perfecting a song is turning early. If you try to make sharp turns the skater starts to slide off the dotted path.
