Why Matt From Wii Sports Has Become An Iconic Gaming Meme
The Nintendo Wii was one of the best-selling consoles of all time, with over 100 million units sold over its supported lifetime. With just about every single Wii sold came a free game, one that both showed off the console's motion controls and offered a simple collection of games that appeal to just about anybody who picked up a Wiimote. That game, of course, was "Wii Sports," which technically became one of the best-selling video games of all time. The Wii dominated the family market when it released, and "Wii Sports" was both easy to learn and ridiculously satisfying. It makes sense, then, why so many gamers shudder at the very mention of the name Matt.
Matt has become quite the well-known CPU for a variety of reasons, and thanks to his appearance in "Nintendo Switch Sports," the two-time champion of Boxing and Swordplay is back for vengeance. He is one of the strongest CPUs in several Nintendo games from the Wii era and beyond, with strengths in multiple sports disciplines, but he isn't good at everything. Matt is the most well-known opponent from "Wii Sports," and it's mostly thanks to the way the iconic Wii game sets up CPU opponents based on skill level. Even if you had every "Wii Sports" accessory, Matt wasn't a CPU who would go down easily.
CPUs in Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Switch Sports
In the original "Wii Sports," all five game modes had a set roster of CPU Miis with a preset skill level that never changed. These CPUs would only appear as opponents when players are on their own, or in the case of baseball and bowling, if there weren't enough player-created Miis to populate teams and background audience members. Depending on what skill level a player reaches after a match, they could expect to face the Mii whose skill level was closest to theirs. Each single player game mode has a Champion CPU that serves as its final boss – there isn't one for "Wii Sports" golf or bowling, though, as there aren't any CPU opponents.
The same is true for "Wii Sports Resort," which features a very similar progression system to the first game but made more lengthy and robust. The immense popularity of "Wii Sports" led to "Nintendo Switch Sports," the long-awaited successor that released earlier in 2022. Instead of Miis, the game uses Sportsmates, but by using a special input in the Chambara, a successor to Swordplay considered one of the best "Nintendo Switch Sports" games, Matt will appear as your opponent in his original Mii form.
Matt isn't great at everything, but he is a Champion boxer
In boxing, the Champion CPU is Matt, with a skill level that can reach up to 1649 – interestingly enough, Elisa, the CPU players face before Matt, has an upper limit of 1648, just one point below the Champion. Matt is extremely hard to beat but players get his special silver gloves for downing him. Without using newly discovered glitches in "Wii Sports," Matt takes even the best players several attempts to beat. In stark contrast to his boxing prowess, he's considered to be one of the easiest CPUs in "Wii Sports" tennis, and is among the first opponents players face in the game mode. He's not great at baseball either, with a maximum skill ceiling of a paltry 268.
In "Wii Sports Resort," just about every named CPU from "Wii Sports" makes a comeback, including Matt. Without a boxing game mode in "Wii Sports Resort," though, Matt apparently put down the silver gloves and took up the blade – a purple blade – eventually becoming the Champion CPU of all three Swordplay game modes. For beating Matt in the Duel and Speed Slice game modes, players unlock his purple sword for their own use. Being the Champion in two of "Wii Sports" more violent game modes makes for quite the menacing aura around the character, especially when his eyes gleam with the determination to defend his title of Champion.
Matt escaped his containment in Wii Sports, appearing in several later Nintendo games
Matt is now one of the most iconic characters from "Wii Sports," but Nintendo sports games aren't the only places players can encounter the two-time-Champion. Don't worry – even though he's powerful, Matt won't escape from "Wii Sports" and meet you at the gym. In addition to his appearances in "Wii Sports," "Wii Sports Resort," and an easter egg in "Nintendo Switch Sports," Matt also appears in "Wii Party" and "Wii Music."
In the poorly-received "Wii Party," Matt holds first place in no less than three separate minigames. In Solo Mode, Friend Connection, and Clover Hunt, Matt practically perfected his score, and it takes a real effort to knock him down. On the other hand, in "Wii Music" he doesn't appear as an opponent or a CPU much at all – he just kind of stands there, playing an instrument in a decidedly unintimidating way.
His role in "Nintendo Switch Sports" as a cheat-code secret is more interactive than in "Wii Music." The game teaches players the basics of music and offers a huge variety of instruments. Miis fill in for band members and instrumentalists, one of whom can be Matt. Matt plays the Güiro, an instrument used in Latin music that's played by rubbing a stick along ridges carved into the side of a gourd. Maybe it's good for Matt to take a break from the boxing ring and the dueling arena to play this percussive Latin instrument – who knows how what would happen if his strength was unbound from the calming hobby of playing the Güiro?