Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

"My favorite Wii exclusive yet"

Look at those sugary sweet graphics. All colorful and kiddy. Those were my original thoughts when I heard of this game. Granted I only heard of it after it got it's very lame English name which is too long and rather boring. But is it worth playing though?

Zack is a young lad and Wiki is his flying monkey friend. Together they are setting out to find all of the pieces of Barbados' body to find his treasure. It's a simple plot but what brings the entire thing to life is the charm of the characters and while it leans towards the wacky side of things it's still a pleasant little plot.

Graphically the game is very bright and colorful. Almost like a cartoon is playing out in front of you. The character models look good. Locations feel varied and fun and despite clichéd themes it's all nice to look at.

I don't think there is any voice work in this game but to be honest I really can't remember. The music is very light hearted but fits each situation perfectly. Jungle beats while little guys dance around a fire, ECT. The sound effects feel a bit limited but they get the job done and for a game like this the sounds are rather nicely done.

This is the kind of game that the Wii was made for. Very simple controls that almost anyone could pick up and play with. Aim with the Wiimote and you twist it around to turn keys. The a and b button are used to point at objects and interact with stuff.

Zak and Wiki is a mission based point and click adventure. The game is split up into 40 or so stages. Each stage has you trying to get to a treasure chest.

The actual game play has you grabbing items, using them on objects and solving puzzles. All with the Wiimote as your pointer.

It's a smooth adventure and despite stereotypical locations the puzzles are often witty. One puzzle early on has you using a piece of wood that you need to set into a fire to use as a torch to read a wall to solve a puzzle to flood a room to swim to an area to change a bat into something to go back and so on.

While it seems complex it isn't. You just need to take your time and think out the problem in front of you and the solution isn't always straight forward. One instant I was falling and died. This was because I didn't grab the umbrella I had just sued and if I had it would have fallen with me and I could have grabbed it in my freefall and floated down safely.

The game itself isn't all that long but it's a fun little adventure. There is replay value with a points system. Solve something quickly and with no mistakes will net you the most points. Early on it's easy to get a perfect point score but later on it's unlikely to do that on your first try.

I would highly recommend this game to parents and kids and any gamer actually. The cute nature of the game may turn some people off, or even the bad name. The game play itself holds it all together as it's a solid title to play but be warned some reading skill is required so smaller kids may get stuck easier than others.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Control - 10/10
Game Play - 10/10
Replay value - 6/10

Final Score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/08

Game Release: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (US, 10/23/07)