As summer winds down, it may seem that the party has pretty much moved on. Don’t believe it. There is still some fun in the sun left to be had for a reasonable price. Of course, it involves not actually being outdoors.



“Wii Sports Resort”

Perhaps the most talked about virtual vacation spot this summer is the new “Wii Sports Resort.” This new title – the deserving successor of the classic “Wii Sports” – opens with your Mii skydiving in a very cool introduction to the new Wii Motion Sensor Plus peripheral. This peripheral may seem like a boring little box, but it is the key to some of the best parts of Wii Sports Resort.

Once you land on Wuhu Island, you are introduced to a widely expanded list of sports-related abilities. Old classics like Golf and Bowling are back, but are given new modes and challenges like a full, 10-frame hundred-pin bowling game.

New modes like Frisbee, Archery and Wake Boarding use the new precision of the Motion Sensor Plus to give you a far more realistic – and more importantly, fun – experience. It may take some time, but once you have learned how to add a subtle twist of your wrist to your shots in Table Tennis, you will appreciate just how much work Nintendo put into the title and the peripheral.



“Pangya: Fantasy Golf”

If you do feel the urge to go outside, you can still get away to an idyllic, sports-themed island in “Pangya: Fantasy Golf” for the PSP. This handheld adaptation of the free-to-play online game is a treat for both online fans and newcomers.

For those who do not know the story, a group of humans are transported to a magical world that was saved by a magical version of golf to participate in a magical golf tournament. Yes, you read that right: magical golf.

“Pangya” is both simple and challenging, offering a variety of courses set against beautiful landscapes. Many of the online game’s courses, items and characters return here in their full anime story, but now they also have their own confusingly random stories to tell. Granted, golf games may not be for everyone, but the arcade-style controls make this a far easier title to get into and special, magical shots like the Tomahawk add that quirky twist that should attract players who might shy away from a Tiger Woods title.



“Flower, Sun, and Rain”

The final game locale in our tour is Lospass Island, the home of the titular hotel in “Flower, Sun, and Rain.” This trippy tale is actually a Nintendo DS port of a long-awaited Japanese PlayStation2 game where the player must explore the weird world of an island trapped in a time warp where they must constantly relive a day that ends with terrorists detonating a jet just after it leaves the airfield.

Fortunately, you have a suitcase that lets you electronically jack into anything (including eyeballs) to try to unlock electronic, numerical codes. Needless to say, this is going to be a weird day.

Like other games from Grasshopper Manufacture, “Flower, Sun, and Rain” seems to revel in its weirdness. The dialogue and situations are at once both whimsical and self-important, a trait that is compounded by the odd, “Animal Crossing”-esque babble used to express the voices. Ultimately, it is quite text-heavy, but the challenges are strange and confounding enough to keep even the most avid puzzle fans scratching their heads and the game itself is one of the most memorable trips you will take on the DS.