This quartet of Wii games are as playable and polished as any other sports field outing for the famous plumber.

The kids and I enjoyed several hours playing volleyball, basketball, hockey and dodgeball against Nintendo's characters.

But after a while deficiencies in the package shone through: the computer opponents are rubbish, there isn't much scope to develop skill, and the four games play surprisingly alike.

There are attempts to add variety with special moves and varied pitches, but they're superficial and don't deepen the core gameplay.

While the games are more substantial than many in the Mario Olympics releases, none offer the lasting appeal of classic Mario sports titles like Tennis and Golf.

David Knights