Wii Play

"Nothing but an overpriced Wii Remote ..."

Wii Play is a pretty mediocre game, probably falling in the "poor" status. However, the good thing about it is that is comes bundled with a free Nintendo Wii remote. Considering that, you could say that you're pretty much buying a Wii Remote and a $10 game at the same time. It is a good deal, but the game isn't really too good. Filled with mini-games that you lose interest in after a few tries, only two players at once, and games not up to the Wii Sports standards that I was looking up to.

You start with a similar interface to Wii Sports. You have the same high-tech, bubbly menu navigation with similar sounds to follow. But then you notice - the first thing you do is select a Mii. This creates quite a few problems, especially when you have more than two people wanting to play. You'd think they would incorporate four-players for a game designed for family fun, but I guess not.

You then come across nine bubbles. You have to click the first one, the Shooting Range game, and after playing that, you unlock the next bubble. It'll only take 30 minutes to unlock, practically all the game has to offer. A mini-game can be played in most cases with 1 or 2 people. There are high-score boards, luckily, for those who have a competitive edge. You can also strive for bronze, silver, and gold medals, gold medals requiring a near flawless play, so it does add somewhat more replay value as well as depth to this game. The entire game plays as a ... "tutorial" to the Wii Remote. It guides you on how to operate different elements of the remote such as ... how to twist it, and how to aim, as if it's a difficult concept to pick-up. The mini-games get more complicated adding more and more operations as you go on.

The first mini-game you'll encounter is the Shooting Range. It's a simplistic game that requires nothing but for you to aim at targets, and press either the trigger or A button to fire. You can string up combos by hitting successfully without missing, but other than that it gets boring ... quick. I even found myself falling sleep with a second players, though it does add some competitive fun as you both go for the same target, forcing one to lose the combo.

The next game is Find Mii. These hilarious pun of a name requires you to find look-alikes in a crowd of Miis. Though the concept and name are simple, this game is actually one of my favorites. There's an addictive side to this game that people seem to have a lot of fun with, because as time goes on, more and more challenges come upon you. For example, one room may become dark and requires you to use the control as a flash-light to search. Another has numerous escalators that Mii's shuffle back and forth from. The game is one of the better on this disc.

Another game is Table Tennis. The goal is to volley a ball back and forth, forth and back until someone drops the ball. There's not the depth that Wii Sport's Tennis had, as there's not to much else involved except good timing and the occasional good motion. The game, like the Shooting Range, is one that you might lose interest after the first few times you play it.

Another more decent one is Laser Hockey. Flashy, neon graphics make the game look very appealing and fun. You control a staple-shaped item which you move around to hit a ball on a flat, shiny surface. If it goes in the other players goal, he serves and it continues until someone gets nine points. It's similar to Air Hockey, except there's a lot of depth in this game between different angles you can hit it, different power, and the uniquely shaped rackets gives you even more playing choices.

The fifth, which I won't even bother speaking about too long because it gives me such bad memories, is Pose Mii. As horrible as the name, you control a Mii, where you can twist is to place it in a bubble. That's it. The game is very simplistic and requires no skill, and there's little challenge in it besides twisting and turning. The game gets old ... fast with nothing to the game to give it more flavor.

I had high hopes in Billiards, which I enjoy in real life, but I had trouble with it. Jutting the Wii Remote in and out as a pool stick was complicated, and hitting the ball almost seemed to be based on luck, and it was nothing like real billiards.

Another I had hopes with was Fishing. With cheesy, cartoony, poor graphics and a simplistic depth like the others, I had a hard time having fun. The game required you to place a line in a flat pool of water and reel out paper fish. It is not like real fishing, they did not even attempt to. It, no lie, is pretty much like the fishing with a magnet on dry land for metal fish that you did in Kindergarden. That's all there is too the game.

A visually hilarious one, but I found boring to play was Charge! Charge! This game has you on a bull, trying to knock down obstacles. Although I have said this a thousand times, the graphics are cheesy, the music is annoying after a while, and the gameplay is shallow.

Now the gem of this game is Tanks! The best, though also last, has you controlling a toy tank. This makes excellent use of both the Wii Remote motion controls as well as the joy-stick, what all Wii games should be rather than a motion-only gimmick. It requires you to use a control stick to move a tank around the Wii Remote to aim in the direction you'd like to fire.

Tanks' motion-control/joy-stick hybrid morphs to make an easily controlled experience, though takes little time to learn, takes a while to master. This allows you to easily navigate your tank with ease, and rather than the controllers limit, your skill level is pretty much limitless and has the depth of a PC shooter, one that requires practice and patience to master.

The game requires you to go around shooting enemy tanks on a flat board. They'll also be shooting at you, and if you're shot, you lose a life. There are plenty of walls to cover, and the AI is pretty smart. The game also includes bombs and specific sections of walls that can be blown up. These can be used a secret alcove to shoot and cover, as a quick get-a-way, or even to navigate to enemy lines quicker.

Tanks has entertained me for a while, and besides this and a little bit of Laser Hockey, the only reason I pick up Wii Play. The games, while for the most part lacking depth, graphics, and decent sounds, considering they're hypothetically $1 a game calls for a good deal. Heck, you can even buy the pack, sell the game, and make a decent little savings on your Wii Remote. But if you don't need the remote, I don't recommend buying the game, as it'll do little else after you've been entertained the first hour ...

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/07, Updated 08/10/09

Game Release: Wii Play (With Remote) (US, 02/12/07)