Review: Wii Play? Don’t mind if I do.
Nintendo is working hard to make sure everyone knows how to use the Wii’s controllers. First came Wii Sports with each console, and now here is Wii Play. Each game offers an assortment of mini-games that allows the player to have fun while learning the mechanics of the system. Think of them as the first level of a video game where it introduces all the necessary moves.
For those of you that have systems, Wii Play’s mechanics are already familiar. Those unfortunate souls that haven’t gotten their grubby mitts on a console have nothing to fear for it’s very intuitive. Everyone that I’ve seen use it has picked it up fairly quickly. Even parents. You point, click, twist, and flick according to the instructions.
One of the main reasons to rush out and pick up a copy of Wii Play is that you get a controller with it. However the games themselves are nothing to sneeze at. I’ve grown particularly fond of the shooting game, which is very reminiscent of Duck Hunt. The only thing that’s missing is the snarky dog laughing at you when you miss. You can even pull a “John Woo” with two remotes at once.
The other games are fun too. There’s Shooting Range, Find Mii, Table Tennis, Pose Mii, Laser Hockey, Billards, Fishing, Charge! and Tanks! For the most part they’re all pretty self-explanatory. The two Mii games are definitely the “oddball” ones. In Pose Mii you have three poses that your Mii can choose from. Bubbles fall from the sky and you have to match your Mii to the poses before they fall into the water below you. In Find Mii the game will tell you to find a particular Mii before the time runs out. For example, you have to find two matching Miis out of a group. Yes, they are as bizarre as they sound. In Charge! you ride on a cow and try to knock down scarecrows for points. In the two-player mode the one who knocks over the most scarecrows wins. Don’t make the mistake I did and try to get to the finish line first. It doesn’t work.
Wii Play, as with most Nintendo games, doesn’t have realistic visuals. They’re cute and cartoony. Nevertheless, Wii Play lends itself well to this style. The music is very similar to Wii Sports. It’s full of catchy, midi-like songs that will probably get stuck in your head if you play long enough. The replay value is limited to when you’re tired of your other games or when your Wii hungry friends come over to play.
