Oh, THQ, why do you do these things to me?

I wrote to you asking for de Blob, because I heard it was good, but got nothing and went out and bought it myself. Great game, can't wait for the sequel.

My boss stole Madworld and reviewed it, to my disappointment, and all I get lumbered with is Big Beach Sports 2, a nice, cheap £20 sports party affair and sequel to the derided, but surprisingly successful Big Beach Sports.

So on goes the Wii, and out comes Wii Sports Resort. In goes Big Beach and, to be fair, initial impressions really aren't bad.

It's colourful, good humoured stuff, and there are even some OK games.

You have to accept with things like this that you are not going to be playing all the games all the time. You will find ones you like and ones you detest and just stick with the ones that tickle your fancy.

So what's that here?

There's football, that's not very good, cricket, that's duller than a Scotland vs Holland test match, and canoeing, that's exactly the same as Sports Resort.

Let's keep looking, shall we, as there must be something in here. Hmmm, surfing, that's interesting, on the Balance Board too. Not bad, not bad at all.

Boules, you say? Well don't mind if I do. A decent game, and good fun against a friend (I'm refusing to look out the window at this point, as I could just as easily, and probably more enjoyably, walk five yards and play actual boules in a garden).

And disc golf too. It's a bit old hat now as a minigame, but it is one of the better games here.

So there is some fun to be had, and that's a massive relief for me, but will this be taking over from Wii Sports Resort? No, it will not.

Will it get much play time ahead of Monster Hunter Tri, Mario Galaxy 2 and Tiger Woods 2011? No, it will not.

So why buy this game? It's cheaper than Wii Sports Resort, so that's a plus. It has hit and miss games, like Wii Sports Resort, which is fair enough, and it is a step forward from the original, so kudos for that too.

I guess, therefore, that my advice is this: If you are too poor to buy Wii Sports Resort you are probably too poor to spend £20 on this. Wait until it hits the bargain bins and pick it up for a tenner.

There's is nothing intrinsically wrong with the game, I just wonder how long the minigame bubble will last and, if it does, how much space there is for relatively poor relations against Nintendo's homegrown beasts.

Good points
- Colourful and engaging initially
- Some decent minigames
- Better than the original
- Multiplayer fun to be had

Bad points - Pretty generic stuff
- Too little innovation
- Annoying control problems on several of the sports
- Not as good as playing sport on a real beach

Verdict: Six playable sports minigames out of 10, as always.