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All work and no play make Jack a dull Mii... - Ben Taylor - 11/12/2008 08:13:20 - edited by MrT
Genre: Hardware - Publisher: Nintendo - Release Date: 8/12/2006

Since the release of the Wii, YouTube seems to have been flooded with hundreds of different videos of grannies bowling strikes, kids striking a computer generated baseball (occasionally getting a little too carried away and thwacking the TV as well) and loving couples bashing each other to a pulp in a boxing ring with the strange absence of arms. Of course, this is no coincidence. This is because of Wii Sport, the pick up and play package that came with the Wii. Well now it seems that we can expect more peculiar videos with Nintendo now tackling the mini-game market with Wii Play.

Wii Play has a great variety, from table tennis to... cow racing...

Well, I say peculiar. The most we'll get is a couple of people slouched on the sofa, jabbing Wii Remotes into thin air. All 9 mini-games featured in Wii Play take a much less active approach, but are equally as fun as Wii Sports assortment of games. Wii Play has a great variety, from table tennis to... cow racing...

Wii Play encourages the average Joe who does not regularly play computer games into its world, and that assessment is just from looking at the main menu. On booting up Wii Play you're greeted by your sweet 'ickle Mii, waving and smiling in a colourful and bright backdrop with jolly music in the background, all 9 games dotted around them like a rainbow of joy.

All the games don't need to patronize the player with pages upon pages of tutorials due to the fact that the premise of each is incredibly simple. Some require you to simply point and click; others make you slide the Wii Remote left and right. All the games offer variety and require different skills to complete. In a way, Wii Play is a sneaky way of Nintendo showing off what the Wii Remote can do. But hey, it's ruddy fun. At one point you'll be pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, twisting and turning a laser platform, preventing some weird form of plasma ball slipping past you in an unusual mix of 'Pong' and 'Tron' (Sparking up the rather catchy phrase 'Anyone for Tron Pong?'). The next moment you'll be tilting the Wii Remote forwards and frantically throwing it up in the air to make your speedy cow jump his way to the finish line (Yes, we're back onto the cow racing...)

The fact that Wii Play comes with a Wii Remote is a major hint that this is made to play with other people. Because of this, the game does suffer when played alone. Despite awarding lonely players with medals for their high scores, there isn't enough here to keep them playing for days. Although this is a fun multi-player affair, it is restricted to only 2 people. Even though having 4 players playing a game of 4 way table tennis could have got incredibly confusing, Nintendo could have made a tournament mode where players could pass the Wii remotes around when it was their turn. Still, there's nothing saying that you can't make your own one at home. It'll just take a bit more time.

Wii Play is a very fun and easily playable game. With a few more tweaks to multi-player and something to make the single players come back to it, it could have been fantastic fun. Still, if you enjoy games that you can play with anyone, then I'd jump on your cow and hurry out to buy it now! (Christ, what is wrong with me...)