Wii Play

"Wii Play... but Not Play for Very Long (Individual game ratings inside)"

The concept behind this game is good, give new users the chance to see all the new controller is capable of, by simply learning by doing. 9 games, each of them designed to text a different skill needed to master the controller, all in one game, plus they will give you a controller with the game! What could possibly be wrong with that? A lot.

Of the 9 mini games, I would say one of them is any good. The shooting range, table tennis, pose Mii, laser hockey, billiards, fishing and cow racing and tanks are all busts, or near busts. The only fun game you can play more than once is Find Mii, a similar game to Where's Waldo. We will get to that in due time. I will rate each mini game, in order of appearance, in the game.

Shooting Range: 4/10
It is simply just pointing at the screen and pressing B at the targets. It really is as simple as that. They do mix it up a bit changing up the targets, adding moving things like birds (worth more points) as to not make the player fall asleep, but it is not a blast to play. You will play once, maybe twice, and be done with it.

Find Mii: 9/10
This is, as previously stated, the best mini game Wii Play has to offer. It is good because it constantly mixes up what you are doing inside the game, and also the environments you must do it in. It ranges from find 2 of the same Mii, find a specific Mii, find the Mii or Miis that is not doing the same thing everyone is doing and more. The environments range from downtown, the ocean and even space. It does get slightly old after a few times, but it is fun.

Table Tennis: 1/10
Seeing table tennis was one of the reasons I bought this game. It looked really fun, but I was mistaken. Your goal in this is to not even score points, its just to hit the ball back to the computer. Woo.. Fun. It is also really hard to master, because its way to sensitive and you tend to miss the ball.... a lot.

Pose Mii: 1/10
I have no idea what the team was doing with this one. It is almost hard to describe without losing my mind... There are bubbles floating down the screen in the shape of your Mii, in 3 different positions, and you have to get your Mii to fit in the bubble before it reaches the button or you lose. I have never been able to finish the game really, because I get so bored I lose on purpose. It is the worst game in this game, and one of the worst... and weirdest I have ever played.

Laser Hockey: 6/10
This is air hockey kicked up a notch. It looks really nice, the difficulty is about right, but it is just too hard to control. I find I end up scoring on myself just as much as I do the other person. The problem with this game is the same problem with every air hockey game ever made on a video game system, really if you want to play it, you need the real thing.

Billiards: 4/10
This is some what fun until you realize you can't really play any games. You go for the "target ball" or you lose, so you are stricken to basically hitting the ball where the computer whats you to, like it or not. Mostly not. It is fun actually hitting it, because it feels somewhat realistic but the game play is too limited from keeping you coming back to this one.

Fishing: 5/10
It stinks you have to be limited to really strange cartoon fishing in a pond, but the game is pretty fun in small doses. You get nothing but a hook and you are trying to lour fish to bite it, but it seems every once in awhile a small brown fish bites it and you lose points, for no reason. It is slightly hard to get used to the controls, but once you do, you are fine. It is pretty fun, but very limited.

Cow Racing: 4/10
Really silly, but I probably did not need to say that, you can tell just from the title. You are on a yarn looking cow, running over scare crows and such. It looks, by far, the best of any of the games, and the controls are simple enough, all be it not all that responsive, but the game play is not as fun as it looks.

Tanks: 2/10
This is like an Atari style arcade game, where with a birds eye view you are a tank trying to blow up other tanks. The first few levels are fun, but after that the other tanks get fast missiles and it gets annoying. There are so much better games out there (including free games online) and this is supposed to be exploring the next gen, not going back in time to out shame to classic games.

Overall: 3/10
The game just simply not re-playable. It is hardly fun, even for a $10.00 game. I felt there was so much with this game that could have been done that was not. Try to include all the major sports for one, such as basketball or even foul shooting even with the Wii remote. Horseshoes and volleyball are both sports that would lend themselves to Will quite nicely, at least better than "Pose Mii" and Cow Racing.

It is obvious that would wouldn't spend the $50.00 on this game alone, most people buy it for the controller that is inside. You should not even consider buying this game without the remote inside, for it really is not worth more than $5.00 at the most.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/23/07