Sports Champions is a collection of six sports games for the PlayStation 3 console with the PlayStation Move motion controller package. It is a showcase title for the PlayStation Move package, and is often included bundled with that hardware.
Sports[ | ]
Sports Champions includes six different sports simulations:
- Archery - Target shooting for speed and accuracy, simulating a bow and arrow. (1-2 players, 1-2 Move controllers per player.)
- Beach volleyball - Volleyball competition, two versus two. (1-2 players as competitors or teammates, 1-2 Move controllers per player.)
- Bocce - Bocce competition on a variety of unusual courts. (1-4 players.)
- Disc golf - Disc golf competition on an 18-hole course with a wide variety of challenges. (1-4 players)
- Gladiator duel - Sword and shield combat simulation. (1-2 players)
- Table tennis - Ping-pong (1-2 players)
Gameplay[ | ]
This game can only be played with the PlayStation Move motion controller. Each sport is played by moving the motion controller in a simulation of how the sport is normally played. In some sports, a second motion controller may be used, such as using one controller to control the bow and another to handle the arrow in Archery, or one controller to control the shield and another to swing the weapon in Gladiator Duel.
There are four modes for playing each sport:
- Champions Cup - Allows a single player to compete against a series of ten different game-operated opponents in a series of four tournaments of increasing difficulty.
- Free Play - Allows either a single player to compete against a game-operated opponent, or up to four players to compete against each other. (Only Bocce and Disc Golf allow three or four players. Beach Volleyball and Bocce allow players to cooperate as teammates or compete as opponents.)
- Challenge - Demonstrate a specific skill of a sport against special targets, rather than actually playing the sport itself. For example, in Beach Volleyball, the challenge is to serve and hit specific targets.
- Tutorial - This teaches the basic skills of the game and use of the PlayStation Move controller, with a chance to practice each lesson.
For sports that require simultaneous interaction (archery, beach volleyball, gladiator duel, table tennis), each player must have his or her own Move controller. For sports where players alternate shots (bocce, disc golf), multiple players may share a single Move controller.
Each player can choose from among the ten standard character avatars to represent their play in each match. Seven additional character avatars can be unlocked for use by winning bonus matches in Champions Cup tournaments. Some additional novelty avatars are recently available as downloadable add-on content.
The PlayStation move controller enables surprisingly precise control. For example, in bocce and table tennis, the player can not only control the direction, angle, and force of the shot, but also apply spin to the ball.