The pseudo flagship game of the PlayStation Move launch, Sports Champions, is one of the first I played on the new motion controller in my own home. I’d gotten brief hands on sessions at earlier media opportunities, but nothing beats diving into a game in your own living room. It’s clear that Sports Champions is Sony’s attempted answer at Wii Sports Resort. Is this HD edition a hole in one or a shank to the right? I’m not telling you in the first paragraph.

Six sports in all are included with Sports Champions: Gladiator Duel, Bocce, Beach Volleyball, Table Tennis, Disc Golf and Archery. If you’ve got some extra dough, definitely spring from a second Move controller — Gladiator Duel, Volleyball and Archery all support two Move controllers. Trust me, they’re all much better with the extra hand in action. Gladiator Duel uses the left hand for your shield (both blocking and shield bash, which a ton of fun), Volleyball uses it as your typical left hand (throwing the ball up to serve, two handed digs), and Archery uses it to hold the bow. All are great uses of a second Move controller.

If you’re playing alone, the Champions Cup mode is for you. You’ll play through Bronze, Silver and Gold levels going through various match-ups to win it all. But playing with friends and family is an even better experience. Thankfully, Sony included the ability to pass the controller around, so you can technically get by with only one Move controller in some circumstances. Head to head game modes obviously require two Move controllers, but if you want to rock out some Disc Golf, for example, you can pass it around with four players.

Not all of the game modes are much fun, particularly Bocce. It’s puzzling why Sony included a game that’s low key and semi boring in real life. If I want to relax with a beer in real life, Bocce is fine. But why would I want to do that in a video game? On the other hand, Disc Golf and Table Tennis are a quite a bit of fun. Just keep in mind that your mileage with Sports Champions will only go as far as your interest in each of the available sports. The game case indicates it supports Add-On Content, but Sony hasn’t made any announcements as of yet on what extra DLC the game might get. Being that the number of sports included is pretty small compared to Wii Sports Resort, I would hope that they add new games down the line, but I’m sure it’ll cost you a pretty penny. Also, there is no online multiplayer here, so if you want to play with friends, you’ll be making phone calls to have everyone come over to your house.

Sports Champions is a pretty good game, but it’s more of a tech demo on what the Move is capable of producing. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun — I had a blast playing Disc Golf, Gladiator Duel and Table Tennis. If you’re picking up a Move and don’t already have a PlayStation Eye camera, definitely grab the Sports Champions bundle. If you already have a PlayStation Eye, $39.99 might be a bit steep, depending on your appreciation of each of the sports included in the game. My votes: Bundle – yes, Standalone – maybe.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]