The first and most important thing to mention about Wii Play is exactly what the package consists of. The game is set at a (semi) budget price of $79.95 in Australia (it's the full £39.99 in the UK unfortunately), but for that you not only get the software, but a bundled Wii remote, RRP $69.95/£29.99. At that price – especially in Australia - Wii Play is tremendous value. The fact that many of the games included look as fun as anything on the console just sweetens the deal.
Did you know Duck Hunt is the fourth highest selling game of all time?
Wii Play has much in common with Wii Sports – it heavily supports the 'Mii' avatar creation feature, and many of the games included are also sports based – although most bear a stronger resemblance to the mini-games featured in DS games such as Super Mario 64 DS and Project Rub. Every game is either one or two player, and while there is a single player 'career' mode of sorts with a medal system for high scores, two player is obviously where most of the action will be. A nice clean menu allows you to select your game from an Apple toolbar inspired list. A single line of instruction on how to play is shown on the screen, and then you're thrown right in. Now on with the games:
- Shooting Range - a modern version of Duck Hunt, hopefully without your 'friend' the dog [who would now be over twenty years old anyway -Ed]. Hands on reviews suggest that using the remote in this game isn't really like a light gun, but more like a 3D mouse. You move a cursor on the screen, but don't have to point directly where you're aiming – just tilt the remote and use the cursor to see where you're aiming. Light gun veterans may have to get used to it.
- Find Mii – Some sort of Where's Wally/Waldo/Warioware thing involving looking for your Mii in a crowd. Not much is known about this game so far, but creating a more outrageous Mii will surely help your chances!
Air hockey is the best thing ever made. - Table Tennis – a decent looking table tennis game where you use the Wii remote like a paddle to hit the ball. It's faster and actually looks more in depth then the obviously similar Wii Tennis. In an interesting twist, crowd members (composed of other Mii avatars) will gather round the table as the game heats up. A great game to include as part of compilation, nobody would buy a game that was just table tennis, would they?
- Pose Mii – A Warioware type mini-game – in this one you aim the remote as well twist it to align your character with a silhouette. This one very much reminds us of a DS mini game.
- Laser Hockey – Sort of a 'Vertical Air Hockey'. Tilting and waving the remote moves your Laser Hockey mallet – although we're not sure what angle you hold it at right now. All the tactics of Air hockey seem to be present, such as picking the right rebound angle to get behind your opponent, and 'cradling' the puck to set up a smash. If this game is even half as good as real air hockey it could be the best game in the package.
- Billiards – a much more realistic simulation then most other Wii sports games so far, in Billiards you are given a behind the ball perspective to take your shot, and you pull back and punch forward the Wii remote to strike the ball. The first person perspective reminds us of the simple sports (like Frisbee) in Nintendogs, but this would obviously require much more precision. We'll have to wait and see on this one.
- Fishing – looks about as in-depth as the fishing in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but with a bizarre Paper Mario like visuals. You pull back the Wii remote and fling it forward to 'cast', and reel the fish in when you feel a tug (from the remote's in-built force feedback). May be the game to get your dad to try out – before you know it he's be saying 'one more go – I just wanna get that blue one!'
Something for everyone, even boring people who like fishing - Charge – a bull riding sim. No, really. You hold the Wii mote sideways like handlebars, and steer a bull through a field. If you topple a scarecrow in the field, you'll get bonus points.
- Tanks – with many other classic game riffs coming out for the new control scheme (Pong, Duck Hunt etc) it's about time the old Atari game Combat was dusted off and re-imagined. In Tanks you can both move and aim with the remote to try and knock out your opposing player. Apparently the shells can bounce off walls.
Nintendo could easily have thrown all these games on the Wii Sports disc, but while it does seem to be a ploy to get Wii owners to purchase at least one extra controller, almost everyone would agree that it's a good idea to have one anyway. Even if only a few of the games in Wii play end up being any good, at $10 (or the steeper £10 in the UK) on top of an essential second controller purchase, Wii Play will most likely be a no-brainer purchase for many new Wii owners.
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