05.18.07

Game review: Wii Play

Posted in Video Games at 6:37 pm by Yumeka

If you enjoyed Nintendo’s complementary Wii game, Wii Sports, then Wii Play is the next best thing. You should still buy Wii Play anyway because it comes with a free Wii remote! ^^ But truthfully, I think it’s just as fun and clever as Wii Sports. Though the games are a bit less complex and less physically-involving than Wii Sports, Wii Play is still very addicting and makes great use of the Wii’s amazing wireless technology!

Just like Wii Sports, you can choose your custom Mii to use in the game. But unlike Wii Sports, Wii Play is for 1 or 2 players only. It has a total of 9 games in it and all you have to do is play through each game in order to unlock the next one until you get all 9. Then you can play them as many times as you want and try to beat your record score (the five highest scores are recorded for each game). You can also earn different medals depending on how well you do in each game. You can play single player and just try to top your high score or play against a friend to see who does the best.

Yup, that’s pretty much all the rules for Wii Play. So let’s look at each of the 9 games more closely.

Shooting Range: In an empty, quiet field, all you gotta do is point the Wii remote straight and press A to shoot as many things as you can. Ducks will randomly fly by in all the levels and you get bonus points if you can hit them. There are five levels total with different things to shoot in each. First, slow moving balloons. Second, actual targets that come and go quickly (you lose points if you shoot targets that have your Mii’s face on it!). Third, frisbees that fly by quickly from either side of the screen (the sooner you shoot them, the more points you’ll earn). Fourth, soda cans that fall from the sky. Keep shooting to keep them airborne and earn more points. And lastly, a bunch of your Miis will appear in the field and you’ve got to shoot down the spaceships that try to abduct them. It’s not as easy as it seems since the ships move pretty fast. You get points for each Mii remaining that hasn’t been abducted.

Pretty simple game, but lots of fun nonetheless. I just wish there were more than five levels though…I’m sure Nintendo could’ve thought of more things to put in the shooting range =P

Find Mii: In this game, a group of Miis will appear on the screen and you’re given instructions on which one to find, for example, find the Mii you’re using, 2 alike Miis, 2 odd Miis out, etc,. You’re also given a time limit and you’ll lose points if you pick the wrong Mii, and lose the game if you run out of time. As the levels increase, so will the difficulty; more and more Miis will appear, they’ll start moving around, walking by, and even swimming, making it harder to find the right ones. Later levels will even put the Miis in a pitch black room where the only way you can see them is if you put your cursor over them. I’ve gotten to Level 22…not sure how many levels there are total.

This is one of the more unique games. It actually isn’t one of my better games, but I still like it. Gotta love those Miis, and this game really shows the amazing variety that Nintendo put into them =)

Table Tennis: Just like ping-pong too. It’s kind of like the Tennis game in Wii Sports except there’s only two players and the ball moves a lot faster and within a shorter range. In single player, your goal is to successfully return the ball 100 times (some of the other Miis you’ve created might come and watch ^^) Of course, it gets increasingly faster and harder the more times you successfully return.

Probably one of the easier games in my opinion, and simplest too – just hit the ball. It’s fun, but it’s not something I could do over and over again =P It only took a few tries for me to get 100 points so I guess it’s one of my better games ^^ It requires lots of concentration though!

Pose Mii: Bubbles with Mii silhouettes on them will float by and you’ve got to turn your Wii remote in order to fit your Mii into the silhouettes. Soon, in addition to moving the Wii remote, you’ll have to press either A or B to switch between 3 different poses that your Mii needs to do in order to fit the silhouettes. As levels increase, the number, speed, and variety of bubbles will increase. You’ll lose if you Mii misses too many of the bubbles.

Another Mii-oriented game. For some reason, it gives a kind of psychedelic feel to it, with the rainbow shine of the bubbles and the background image changing from flowers, to birds, ducks, etc,. Again, not one of my better games, but probably one of the most unique of the Wii Play games.

Laser Hockey: Use the Wii remote to move your paddle around the screen and hit the puck into your opponents goal while also protecting your own goal. You can also twist the Wii remote to manipulate which direction and how hard you want to hit the ball. I think there’s a three minute time limit too. Yup, that’s about it =)

This is actually my worst game. I just can’t seem to score more than a few points more than the CPU =P I think my trouble is I’m too aggressive with hitting the puck – I tend to hit fast and hard, making the puck bounce off the walls really fast and thus making it harder to protect my goal. LOL, most of the CPU’s points come from that mistake of mine XD

Billiards: The Wii version of pool, and a very realistic rendition at that. Pretty much all the same rules are applied; use the Wii remote to strike the cue ball (which has your Mii’s face on it) and sink the other balls. You’ll lose points if the cue ball falls into one of the holes or if it fails to hit the target ball first. You can adjust how hard you strike the cue ball by how much force you put into moving the Wii remote like a pool stick.

This is probably the most complex of the Wii Play games and maybe should’ve been included on Wii Sports instead ^^ I was never a pool shark but I am now, LOL! Nintendo did a great job with making a Wii version of billiards. In addition to using the Wii remote like a stick to hit the ball, you can also use the direction pad to change the angle you hit the ball and the A button to view the pool table from the top.

Fishing: Move the Wii remote to move your fishing pole around in the lake and wait for a fish to bite. The higher the number, size, and rarity of fish you catch in the time limit, the higher your score (you lose points if you catch the Small Fry fish). Fish will tap your fishing hook a few times before they bite. You’ll feel a vibration on the remote when they do bite, and then all you gotta do is pull the remote back quickly to reel them in. You earn extra points by catching the Bonus fish, which changes randomly throughout the game.

Another simple but fun game. No buttons or trick moves required – just move the remote around and pull back when a fish bites. It could get old quickly, but it’s still fun to try and keep beating your record of fish caught! =D

Charge: Your Mii rides a cow and your goal is to knock down as many scarecrows as you can. Scarecrows will appear in rows and you get extra points if you knock them all down. A moving scarecrow will also pop up. You hold the Wii remote on the side for this game, tilting it forward to go faster, back to slow down, to the left and right to turn, and up to make the cow jump over hurdles. Once you reach the goal line within the time limit, your score is added up.

An interesting game. If you like Mario Cart and similar games, you’ll probably like this one. It’s a nice change of pace to hold the Wii remote on the side, though turning the cow and hitting the scarecrows gets a bit tricky as the road gets more twists and turns in it. It’s tempting to keep trying the game until you get a perfect score of knocking down all the rows of scarecrows without running off course XD

Tanks!: The last of the Wii Play games, and probably the trickiest. Your goal is to steer a little tank around and destroy all the enemy tanks on the screen without your tank getting destroyed. Move the Wii remote to aim, press the A button to drop mines, B to fire shells, and either the control pad or Nunchuk control stick to steer the tank. The levels will start off easy, with enemy tanks barely fighting back. Then it’ll get harder as more enemies with more aggressive attacks will appear. Shells can ricochet off the walls and bounce back, and mines you drop can blow up your tank as well so be careful! You only get a few chances to have your tank destroyed before it’s game over.

Probably the hardest of the Wii Play games, and because of that, also very addicting! =) But trust me, it’s much easier to use the Nunchuk control stick to steer the tank rather than the control pad on the Wii remote.

Well, that’s about all there is to say about Wii Play. If you’re strictly into complex RPG or hardcore fighting games, etc., then you might want to skip this one (but c’mon, a free Wii remote! ^^) But if you like lighter games and enjoy using the Wii’s wireless technology to its fullest, then definitely check this one out. I’m sure one of the 9 games will appeal to you =) Nintendo has a great talent for making games that don’t necessarily have to be complicated and serious to be enjoyable. Wii Play, Wii Sports, Wario Ware, and other Nintendo games are all about having simple, creative fun! ^_^

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