Players use the Wii Remote to mimic actions performed in real-life sports, such as swinging a tennis racket or rolling a bowling ball.

[10][11] The games use the motion sensor capabilities of the Wii Remote to control the player's dominant arm and/or the appropriate sports equipment it wields.

[11] Due to their turn-based nature, golf and bowling support hotseat multiplayer and can be played with just one Wii Remote that can be shared among players.

[10] Miis saved on the Wii will appear in the crowd during bowling games and as members of human-controlled teams in baseball.

The game keeps track of these points by charting them on a graph, as well as increasing the size of the crowd in Tennis and Boxing single-player modes.

After obtaining 1000 skill points in a sport, a player is awarded a "pro" level, along with a cosmetic feature for their Mii in Bowling and Boxing.

[16] Nintendo also wanted players to use the system daily and intended the game to be the console's flagship title to help accomplish this.

The game supports a 16:9 widescreen ratio and progressive scan, runs at 60 frames per second,[10] and makes use of the Wii Remote's accelerometer to interpret the player's motion.

The demo featured Iwata and Fils-Aimé in a doubles tennis match against Miyamoto and Scott Dyer, a contest winner.

[27] GameTrailers called it a good complement to the Wii console and referred to all five games as a "nice total package".

[1] Matt Casamassina of IGN called it a "successful showpiece for Nintendo's new hardware" and enjoyed the ability to import Miis.

[10][33] PC Magazine columnist John C. Dvorak, an avid bowler, praised the realistic physics used in bowling and stated, "Nintendo did a stupendous job of coding."

He complimented the addition of physical activity to video gaming but complained that long-term use caused his wrist and shoulder to become sore.

[10] Before its release, IGN's Craig Harris commented on an exploit allowing easy strikes in the bowling game that removed the challenge and replays value.

[26] GameTrailers called golf the most in-depth, but criticized the lack of multiple courses and unpredictable controls when trying to slice or hook a shot.

They called boxing the best workout on Wii Sports, but criticized the difficult timing needed to punch properly.

[56][57] In early May 2007, game-industry research firm Media Create placed Wii Sports third in their list of top-20 games in Japan.

Due to this popularity, Matt later appeared in another sequel, Nintendo Switch Sports, where a cheat code can unlock him as a boss opponent in Chambara.

[85][86][87][88][89] Wired included Wii Sports in its list of "The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade" at #8, for its role in popularizing motion controls and having a major impact on the "videogame landscape.

[93] In regard to the issue, Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa commented, "People tended to get a bit excited, especially while playing the game, and in some cases the remote would come loose from their hands.

[96][97] Wii Sports has also been cited as a game that can provide a bonding experience among family members, and as a means of exercising and losing weight when played regularly.

[98][99] A study involving 13- to 15‑year-old teenagers was conducted by the Liverpool John Moores University in 2007 and concluded that players used 2% more energy than by playing on other consoles.

[100] Similar energy expenditure results were found in a small 2010 study of adults with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The researchers noted that the tennis and boxing games "seem to provide at least moderate-intensity exercise" and that they "may be useful as treatment to promote more active and healthful lifestyles" in patients.

[101] Wii Sports has been used to aid in the physical therapy of a boxer at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Canada, stroke victims in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Raleigh, North Carolina, and injured soldiers in Prescott, Arizona; Washington, D.C.; and Landstuhl, Germany.

[9] The winners competed against professional tennis players Pat Cash and Mark Woodforde, and were awarded new Wiis.

[108] An unofficial Wii Sports tennis tournament titled "Wiimbledon" was held in the Brooklyn, New York bar Barcade on June 23, 2007.

[114] At the 80th Academy Awards Show, host Jon Stewart and Jamia Simone Nash were caught playing Wii Sports tennis on one of the event's gigantic projection screens after a commercial break as part of a joke.

[115] Wii Sports has also been featured in mainstream movies such as Tropic Thunder, and in commercials for products such as Kellogg's Smart Start.

[117] Development moved forward after the extent of the Wii MotionPlus was realized, though the idea for a sequel existed sooner.