Wii Play

"As a game, it's practically a joke. But it DOES come with a free Wiimote"

Wii Play is not unlike Wii Sports in that it was designed to take advantage of the various nuances of the Wii Remote. That said, Wii Play is technically not "free" like Wii Sports was, the games have no variations or modes, and most are about as forgettable as your average Mario Party minigame. There's a few games in Wii Play that are passably enjoyable, but as a whole Wii Play is hardly worth the extra $10 it takes to upgrade from a Wii Remote to Wii Play with a remote.

Graphics

Heavy use of Mii's is a nice change, since the characters have all but been neglected in every game since Wii Sports. Typical Wii Sports overly-simplistic 3D is in full-force with Wii Play, but there's little doubt that this graphics style doesn't have as much staying power as Wii Sports would've led you to believe. The simplism in the cow racing game, for example, borderlines archaic and insulting instead of being mildly humorous. Some of the other games, however, look absolutely fabulous at 480p, like Laser Hockey. Laser Hockey is definitely the best game of the bunch, and its wild neon glow is very eye-catching.

Aside from overly simple graphics, Wii Play is otherwise a decent game to look at. It certainly won't "wow" anyone, but it gets the job done. Unfortunately, that's not enough for a game you actually have to PAY for.

Sound

Wii Play features the same ridiculous style of elevator music from Wii Sports, and once again it's annoying and repetitive. The sound effects aren't satisfying (especially in the Duck Hunt game) and the sounds that occasionally invade your remote are especially grating and stupid. Whether or not this "muzak" is a result of low-budget development or intentional (because the game is "supposed" to appeal to an older, less game-savvy audience) is frankly irrelevant, because it's bad. And bad, as they say, is bad.

Gameplay

You can immediately throw away Mii Pose, Fishing, Tanks, Table Tennis, and Cow Racing as they're all incredibly boring and, in the case of Tanks, Table Tennis, and Cow Racing, control absolutely horrendously. That leaves four games left, and of those four, only Billiards and Laser Hockey have ANY level of replay value beyond a few minutes. And, even then, none of the games have settings or extra modes, so you're getting exceedingly stripped-down versions of games. Duck Hunt, for example, would've been very good if it had anything other to do than four or so stages of stupidly basic shooting. Billiards would've justified the game's purchase (because of the great controls) if it just had a standard game of 8-ball. But it doesn't.

Overall

As of this writing, Wii Play comes with an extra Wii Remote. Considering Wii Play is only $10 more than the remote itself, it would normally make logical sense to get the game instead of a remote by itself. But, in the case of Wii Play, you'll be lucky to play the game for more than an hour without ever playing it again. This game wouldn't have been acceptable as a free pack-in like Wii Sports was, let alone a game you'd pay for.

As it stands, there's enough value in the extra Wii Remote to POSSIBLY make the package worth purchasing, but you might be disappointed in how poor the game itself is.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/14/07