"You are getting this just for the free remote right?"

This is most probably the best way to bag yourself an extra Wii Remote, for a little extra then the normal price. Oh, and you get a game with it too. Wii Play comes with an extra Remote, free of charge (in the UK, a normal remote costs £30, whilst this game costs £35). The game is meant to be some kind of training in how to use the remote, with many mini games to play, however, in a smaller, Wii Sports scale rather then something like Mario Party. There are nine games to play, once you start the game, you will only have the first available. The menu's are the same from Wii Sports, almost. You select a Mii to play with, then choose the game to play.

The first two games are Shooting and Find Mii. Shooting is like Duck Hunt, but not as good, and with extras in it too. There are five levels to play through on Shooting, each giving a different challenge. The first is a simple exercise, where you must shoot the different balloons that float up the screen. The second is where you must shoot targets, but amongst these targets, are one's with your Mii's face on them, hitting these loses you points. On level 3, flying ships will zoom across the screen, and they're pretty small too. These aren't hard to hit, but its hard to keep a long going combo for more points. Level 4 sees you hitting tin cans a couple of times before they break, and keeping them up in the air, to get as many points as possible. Level 5 sees you destroying little space ships which will try to kidnap your Mii's, each one you save will earn you 10 points at the end of the round. Also, a dog will bark from time to time, this signals that a duck will fly across the screen. Also, there are golden targets to hit for extra points. Unfortunately, all the targets come in the same patterns, so it's just a matter of memorizing where they appear and such to get a Gold or even Platinum medal at Shooting. On Find Mii, you must complete level after level of finding Mii puzzles. One level may need you to find two look-alikes, this is the most popular, or to find the fastest Mii for example. These are pretty hard at first, but you kinda get used to it later on, and that makes it more easier to get gold. The only problem is this is kind of a boring mini game, mainly because most of the objectives are the same, there isn't much variety, and you will be finding look-alikes most of your time.

Next are Table Tennis and Pose Mii. Table Tennis is a big disappointment. Basically, you just move the remote left and right to make sure it's in front of the ball, to hit it back to the other person, and try to get a good rally going. This is quite boring until it speeds up a little, but it still isn't very exciting, nor is it hard either. You can make the ball go in certain directions, but it's still a lazy way of making Table Tennis. Pose Mii is quite a cool mini game. At the bottom of the screen there are three waves, above this, there are loads of bubbles floating down. The bubbles will have different poses of your Mii in them, in a certain direction (like upside down or to the side for example). You must press A and B to change the pose, and if you fit your Mii into the bubbles, they pop. If the bubbles reach a wave, they disappear, and if all the waves are gone, game over! This game gets very frantic and exciting, and is most probably one of my favourite games out of Wii Play. It's extremely fun to play, and quite hard, making you play again and again to get gold!

Now we have Laser Hockey and Billiards. Just like Table Tennis, Laser Hockey is pretty rubbish. Basically, you have to hit the ball into the other side's goal, whilst they try to hit it into your goal, and you defend. I find the remote a bit too sensitive on this game, I either end up hitting it into my goal, or pass by it letting it drift into my goal. The opponent isn't too tough, they're pretty stupid, and simple wall ricochets can bag you a goal. This isn't very fun though, but is kind of alright to play in multiplayer. Billiards is much better, but I don't like it too much, mainly because im rubbish. It follows the simple rules of the game, you have to hit a certain ball, then try to get others around into the holes on the game table. Hitting the cue ball is pretty good, you select where, like if you want spin, then pull the remote back, then forward. This is kind of unresponsive sometimes, but that doesn't matter too much. I don't know if it's just me, but the game seems to decide to make the target ball behind others, this is mostly why im pretty rubbish. Still, this is a fun game to play, and is one of the best in the pack.

Now the last three games, are Fishing, Charge! and Tanks!. Fishing, is very simple, there is a small time limit, and a pond. You lower your fishing rod into the pond, and try to catch a fish. You just simply place the bait in front of their mouth, wait for them to bite onto it, and pull the remote up to get them, much simpler than Twilight Princess for example. There aren't many different fish, but all offer a different amount of points, and there will always be a bonus fish, if you catch it, you get extra points. There are small fry in the pond also, these grab your bait straight away, and catching these will lower your points. Charge! is a little like a racing game. You hold the remote side ways, and tilting it forwards makes your cow run, then turning it to the sides makes it turn, lifting it up very fast makes it jump, and tilting it back makes it go slow. You must run around a course, hitting as many scarecrows as you can, and avoiding fences. You have a time limit, but its pretty hard NOT to lose, because you have a fair amount of time. This game is pretty fun, but a Platinum medal can be gained easily, after an hour or so of playing the game. Tanks! is a little different from all the other games. This game doesn't require a nun-chuck, but it is optional. The Directional Pad, or the Nun-chuck analog stick, can be used to move your tank, the remote is for aiming, and then B fires, where as A lays a mine. Your objective is to beat the enemy tanks in the different levels. Later on, there are more enemy tank types, ones which fire rockets, and ones which can fire multiple bullets. Tanks! is great fun, and again, one of the best games in Wii Play.

The graphics are just like Wii Sports, it depends on the game. They're 2D is quite a lot of games, with 3D models, which aren't detailed well. The table for Billiards is nicely detailed, but thats nothing compared to the graphical power the Wii should be able to do (although its not much, it could be better). Also, the game has many Mii's in it, so the graphics aren't too good there either. The music is obviously different for each game. Unfortunately, there is only one type of music for each game which is kind of stupid, and it lacks variety. Some of the music is annoying, where as some is OK to listen too, until you hear it over and over again from playing the certain game too much.

Overall, Wii Play is a great way to get an extra remote, but not for entertainment. You might try to get a platinum medal on all the games, but they get pretty boring fast, and after that, you might not ever play the game again. Multiplayer is something you might try out once, but you won't play it too much, unless there is a game you really love. Overall, I give it 5.7, which rounds up to a score 6/10 (I couldn't be bothered to do the ratings etc).

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/07