Link's Crossbow Training + Wii Zapper Review

By Mathew Kumar Published 26 November, 2007

Quarrelsome.

Version tested: Wii

When the Wii Zapper was announced at E3 2007, there was a collective groan here at Eurogamer Dungeons. As a plastic cradle to hold a Wii Remote and Nunchuk, we wondered exactly how it was going to offer more value than one of those Wii accessory packs that you find in bargain bins across the land. Or just holding it differently. After all, is Wii Sports Golf really that much more like playing golf if you've got a tiny plastic golf club attached to your Wii Remote?

Thankfully, lovable old Reggie announced at the same time that it was to come with a pack-in game, Link's Crossbow Training, so even if the Wii Zapper was a waste of plastic, at least we'd get a game with it, right?

Wii Zapper

Released in 1985, the NES Zapper is still a frequently referenced Nintendo icon, and when you first get the Wii Zapper out of the box, the prognosis just doesn't look as good. However, once you fit the Wii Remote and Nunchuk into it you see that, stylish or not, it was carefully designed. Both controllers slot in snugly and the wire that connects them is hidden by an enclosure that, with the wire wrapped exactly three and a half times inside, allows just enough length to connect the two perfectly (although there is still nowhere to hide the hand strap.)

'Link's Crossbow Training + Wii Zapper' Screenshot 1

The Wii Zapper does looks less stupid in real life - but not by much.

The Wii Zapper is pleasingly weighty but (and this is a major but) the two-handed submachine-gun design is difficult to get comfortable with. I've found it best to rest the Wii Zapper on something (a coffee table, or a pile of cushions) but it's still not particularly comfortable for long periods.

As you have to swing the Wii Zapper further than the Wii Remote on its own to make similar movements, I also found that my accuracy took a hit in comparison. It's not quite as bad as you might have heard, but the Wii Zapper isn't going to be of any interest if you only "play to win."

But hang on a minute, that isn't what the Wii is really about, is it? While it might not be as accurate as just using the Wii Remote on its own, the Wii Zapper does "feel" more like using a gun, and is just that much more immersive, and somehow fun, for that very reason - and as there's no special hardware required, you can use the Wii Zapper with any game you wish to. Try Excite Truck, maybe.

Link's Crossbow Training

'Link's Crossbow Training + Wii Zapper' Screenshot 2

One of the best levels in Link's Crossbow Training is the Ranger level which asks you to clear out a Wild West themed town of enemies - probably because it's exactly the same in Twilight Princess.

Of course, the first game you're likely to use it with is Link's Crossbow Training (what with it coming in the box and everything) and just like the Wii Zapper, at first glance Link's Crossbow Training doesn't seem up to snuff when compared to its parent product (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) especially as it's clearly just composed from the same art assets.

Consisting of nine different stages with three levels apiece, Link's Crossbow Training has three different modes of play: Target Shooting, Defender and Ranger.

Target Shooting levels, the first in each stage, are incredibly similar to Wii Play's Shooting Range, offering shooting galleries where the player is only expected to aim and destroy targets in a set amount of time.

Defender levels place a stationary Link in the centre of an attack from all sides, asking the player to rotate 360 degrees (by moving the aiming reticule to the edge of the screen) to destroy approaching enemies within the time limit, with power ups including an automatic crossbow on offer from destroying certain enemies.

Ranger levels are the most in-depth, and players must move Link using the control stick on the Nunchuk around levels taken directly from Twilight Princess while aiming and destroying a certain number of enemies within the time limit. Power-ups are available as in Defender levels.

'Link's Crossbow Training + Wii Zapper' Screenshot 3

And one of the strangest is this, which asks you to burst balloons which break up, Asteroids-style, into smaller balloons. Is this idea developed in any of the later levels? Nope!

Your score for each stage is awarded with a medal (ranked from bronze to platinum - what will they think of next?) with your score largely based on how well you can hit targets without missing any. Every shot on target increases your multiplier by one, and while 27 levels might sound like a fair amount, even if you're trying to get platinum on every stage it won't take much longer than a few hours to learn levels to the extent where you complete them only rarely breaking your multiplier. You could spend more time trying to improve your score even further than that, destroying all of the level's features for extra points, but as a score challenge the title doesn't have very much staying power at all. As missions average around a minute each you can easily complete the single player portion of Link's Crossbow Training in about half an hour.

If multiplayer was better, I might be able to forgive that, but sadly there's absolutely nothing to it. The title only allows you to play the levels from single-player mode by taking turns, and although you can play with up to three other players it seems academic when you're essentially playing single player mode with other people in the room.

'Link's Crossbow Training + Wii Zapper' Screenshot 4

The Defender levels are most fun when you've got an automatic crossbow - but it's very easy to lose your multiplier with one unless you're especially careful.

If you don't want a Wii Zapper, Link's Crossbow Training offers terrible value based on its length, but that's not to say that the few hours that you'll spend with it aren't fun. They're really fun. The Ranger levels are the highlight of the experience and cry out to be developed into a larger game, but like the rest of it, there just aren't enough.

Link's Crossbow Training's flaws would be unforgivable even as a budget-priced title if it wasn't for the fact that it includes the Wii Zapper. And being honest, "it just feels more fun" is a wooly reason to recommend the Wii Zapper when the Wii Remote and Nunchuk work perfectly fine on their own - especially considering the Wii Zapper is both less accurate and less comfortable.

If you'd feel better playing gun games with a controller that's more like a gun (as some players like to play golf games with a controller that's "more like a golf club", though we still think they're mental) Link's Crossbow Training is a nice little extra but, whatever you do, don't pick up a Zapper just for the game - but with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, House of the Dead II & III, and Ghost Squad just around the corner, there are a few good reasons to pick it up anyway.

5 / 10

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About Mathew Kumar

Read more articles from Mathew by visiting the Mathew Kumar archive page.

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Comments (46) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Lexx87 #1 4 years ago

    Meh

  • Decap #2 4 years ago

    Wow, a shocker. D:

  • BiscuitBase #3 4 years ago

    2 shocking nintendo reviews in one day? The wii is DOOMED.

    Still, it's not the worst zelda game ever, there's still those CDi games

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 4 years ago

    I seriously consider not getting the Zapper now. Although Resident Evil: UC is coming up there's not much else to play with the Zapper. Maybe Red Steel but I don't intend to buy peripherals for replaying an older game.
    Edited by 1 at 26/11/07 @ 14:22

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #5 4 years ago

    It is nothing more than a peice of plastic right? so theres nothing stopping me playing Resident Evil and House of the Dead, just with 2 hands like i played Metroid right?

    For resident evil i would of thought it would play better with 2 hands, as resident evil survivor on the PS2 trying to do it all with one hand on the GeCon 2 was a nightmare.

  • alimokrane #6 4 years ago

    More like Link's Crapbow then ? :p
    Edited by 1 at 26/11/07 @ 14:32

  • afghan_jones #7 4 years ago

    It really is the future of gaming...

  • Wayne #8 4 years ago

    To be fair, 5/10 is a pretty good score for a bit of plastic.

  • Darkedge #9 4 years ago

    @der_tolle_emil
    Playing Red Steel with the zapper would be an even MORE painful experience than it is normally with nunchuk and wiimote, not to mention hat the sword batters would be pretty impossible (more so than the rubbish that they are already)

  • rhinoxious #10 4 years ago

    I'm still getting it, I just like the idea of having a gun shaped controller for these kind of games (evenif teh trigger is in the wrong place).

    As for Link's Crossbow it's just a nice bonus for the family to play on christmas day before I destroy them all at bowling, again.

  • Ainudil #11 4 years ago

    There is no need at -all- to get a Zapper. Umbrella Chronicles, House of the Dead II & III and Ghost Squad will work just as fine with a nunchuck and wiimote.

  • CallousB #12 4 years ago

    Obviously not a great score...but you can pick it up for £14.97 online so it's worth a punt.

    Personally I'm surprised at Zelda being used to push it.

    In Nintendo's postion I would have charged £30 for it, called it "Wii Play 2 - Zapper", and stuck in a few more mini games in to appeal to a wider audience.

    Online Mii Paintball would have been nice..or some firefighting/ghostbusting mini games. Hopefully we will see a few Wiiware titles that support it.

  • macmurphy #13 4 years ago

    ^Hah, wanted to know the price. For 15 quid that seems like a good budget punt. Why does Eurogamer not take that into account in it's reviews. They definitely didn't mention it for Endless Ocean. For fifteen quid I can't see how it's not going to be a giggle on Christmas day for the kids, even if I end up not being too impressed.
    Edited by 1 at 26/11/07 @ 15:04

  • monkie_king #14 4 years ago

    must be a first -- an add-on that actually subtracts functionality from the default controller setup. it's not even like you can sight down the barrel, since it isn't a real light-gun.

    ah well, nintendo deserves a slice of the lucrative "pointless wii peripherals" market this xmas.

  • CallousB #15 4 years ago

    "Any idea of the price?"

    It retails at £19.99..but you can get it for £14.97 delivered from Tesco online.

  • monkie_king #16 4 years ago

    CallousB: good call on the ghostbusting/firefighting -- non-violent, not as dependent on precision aiming, and Nintendo have the IP: Luigi's spook-hoover from Mansion, and Mario equipped with FLUDD.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #17 4 years ago

    Darkedge: I was trying really hard to think of any game that could work with the Zapper and when I thought of Red Steel I guess I didn't think about the sword fighting, the grenades or dual wielding guns. So of course you're right, Red Steel wouldn't really work with it.

    Too bad because that leaves only the upcoming rail shooters but I think they'll be just as fun without the zapper.

  • macmurphy #18 4 years ago

    I might be wrong but I think Ghost Squad replicates the sighting function by some kind of technical trickery, that is to say you shoot where you point on the screen and you don't have to aim off at the sensor bar (though obviously the sensor bar is still doing the work - check the IGN review). It's some kind of complicated calibration jiggery pokery which I'm guessing shouldn't be too hard if you feed the right maths in - apparently it works quite well but you lose accuracy toward the edge of the screen.

    Seems to me the Wii had a big enough user base to really push the boat out and try and get a great light gun, especially as Nintendo seem to have dropped a bollock with their effort. Let's get one with a sight on it that is compatible with Ghost Squad and games like it that - true light-gun games where you shoot where you point. I also want one that plugs into the mains for great recoil like an arcade machine (and no that doesn't have to mean a dangerous one that replicates a real gun, all the kick could be inside with no exterior working parts so little johnny won't take his finger off). I'd be willing to have slightly toss wires coming out if it meant a genuine kick - I don't even give a toss if it has to be bright yellow and shaped like a dildo so I can't rob Tesco's with it (possibly not shaped like a dildo, hard to feel manly when you're waving a big yellow phallus around).

  • haowan #19 4 years ago

    "Quarrelsome" heh nice

  • pyrat6 #20 4 years ago

    That's another thing crossed off my christmas list.

    Nintendo you bastards ... ruining my christmas. Don't you love little baby jesus ?? !

  • rudedudejude #21 4 years ago

    this looks far better -

    http://ww w.joystiq.com/2007/09/14/new-wi...

  • monkie_king #22 4 years ago

    macmurphy: ah, cool -- I always thought it should be possible with enough calibration (shoot each corner type of thing). Do you know if you get a crosshair in Ghost Squad? For me a gun game isn't a gun game if you're just dragging a pointer around with it.

  • Artemus #23 4 years ago

    A few reviews have said the zapper actually makes RE:UC harder to play.

  • Killerbee #24 4 years ago

    One thing I've been wondering since this was announced - which button is the trigger when you use the Zapper?

    Convention, realism and comfort dictate that the trigger should be on the rear grip (i.e. Z or C on the nunchuck), but the B trigger is quite clearly visible on the front grip... so is it customisable, does it default to one or the other or what?

  • Canyarion #25 4 years ago

    I might have gotten it if it were just as expensive as the American version. I'm not going to pay €30 where Americans paid $20. It's another reason I didn't buy Resident Evil 4.

  • CallousB #26 4 years ago

    "A few reviews have said the zapper actually makes RE:UC harder to play. "

    It probably does..but then again it's far easier to play a lightgun shooter with a mouse on PC...but it's not as fun.

  • patchbox360 #27 4 years ago


    the worst best selling system ever

  • bushwod #28 4 years ago

    @Canyarion it's called tax mate, get used to it.

  • smelly #29 4 years ago

    >>the worst best selling system ever

    *sigh* why do we have to put up with insecure 360 owners in every wii thread?

    But while we're at it:

    1. The wii has the best reviewed game ever (mario galaxy) achieving higher average marks than any other game ever.

    2. Looks like even the ps3 is outselling your machine.. boo hoo hoooooooo!

  • barnard666 #30 4 years ago

    its wrong to start dissing the wii, I loved Mario...but equaly wii fans shouldnt bear down on the 360. I played mario for most of the weekend...now I am playing mass effect. 2 amazing games, 2 amazing systems.

    based on the review I wont be getting zapper though...I only wanted it for the game.

  • Sid-Nice #31 4 years ago

    The review title is wrong: it's actually Wii Zapper + Links Crossbow Training. The Wii Zapper has a RRP of £19.99 and Links Crossbow Training is a free demo game. Anyone who is thinking of picking up The Umbrella Chronicles: (a light-gun game which you shoot at the England manager hiding under his umbrella) or House of the Dead and maybe Ghost Squad and you want to experience playing these games using a moulded plastic gun, then you can’t go wrong for £19.99 or less.

    I can hold my sawn-off shotgun in one hand (with the Wii-mote taped on) and the Nunchuk in the other; I just better make sure that the gun is not loaded. :)

  • cyber_nicco #32 4 years ago

    A five??? Are you kidding me?

    This crap is like a two at the most. Fuck all. Think of the games you've scored below a five, and try to justify this score.

  • mostly_harmless #33 4 years ago

    "And being honest, "it just feels more fun" is a wooly reason to recommend the Wii Zapper..."

    Yes, damn it, quantify that fun! If you cannot measure it, your knowledge is of a weak and meagre kind, as Lord Kelvin once said.

  • sweetcheeks #34 4 years ago

    5/10
    it hurts me to think this is how bad you felt blue dragon was.

  • smelly #35 4 years ago

    But it's free?

  • Stoatboy #36 4 years ago

    re: "and most importantly, z) is actually trying to do something different from the last generation."

    What? Adopting a policy of releasing hardly any good games?

    I jest, I jest! ;)

    Anyway, that's not different. Sony are doing it too. :p

  • zeroK #37 4 years ago

    It totally agree with smelly there, but I'm starting to get a little bit worried about Nintendo's software line. I might have been mistaken in this believe but up until recently I always felt like I could buy whatever game from them and don't feel bad about having spent my money with them. I really hope that games such as this "demo" aren't setting a trend there for BigN.

  • smelly #38 4 years ago

    >Anyway, that's not different. Sony are doing it too. :p

    As is the 360.. aonly good games being yet more fps games.. etc etc etc.

    It's amazing that you dont see people jumping into a thread for a bad 360 game (and there are lots of them) saying "haha, 360 is shit, etc".

    But yet insecure 360 owners do all the time.. if their machine was so great - why so insecure one wonders?

  • Stoatboy #39 4 years ago

    ">>Anyway, that's not different. Sony are doing it too. :p

    >As is the 360.. aonly good games being yet more fps games.. etc etc etc."

    T'was a joke, smelly. Just a joke.


    ">It's amazing that you dont see people jumping into a thread for a bad 360 game (and there are lots of them) saying "haha, 360 is shit, etc"."

    It's not amazing, it's probably because there's too much evidence to the contrary for anyone to even bother to try. No, they go after the 360s ridiculously piss-poor reliability record instead, and rightly so. That's a much easier target.


    ">But yet insecure 360 owners do all the time.. if their machine was so great - why so insecure one wonders?"

    It's not insecurity, you fool - it's gloating while you get the chance. And great fun it is too! :p

  • smelly #40 4 years ago

    "It's not insecurity, you fool - it's gloating while you get the chance. And great fun it is too! :p"

    Seems a little "sad" if you ask me?


  • Stoatboy #41 4 years ago

    >>"It's not insecurity, you fool - it's gloating while you get the chance. And great fun it is too! :p"

    >Seems a little "sad" if you ask me?

    Sad? I'm not the one who seems to be unhappy here. :p

  • chischis #42 4 years ago

    >Still, it's not the worst zelda game ever, there's still those CDi games

    Some would disagree:
    http://hg 101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/z...

  • smelly #43 4 years ago

    I would love to play the cdi games..

    Is there anyway of doing it without hardware? i.e. images/emulators?

  • seasidebaz #44 4 years ago

    i want to know...

    why the hell didn't they use z or c as the trigger? it's in the right place ffs!

    oh no, hang on, due to the laws in the uk, a correct trigger placement would have made this a 'replica' and then the police would start shooting people for using it

  • Daikon #45 4 years ago

    SNES Super Scope anyone?

  • rhinoxious #46 4 years ago

    I've just picked this up on the spur of the moment, and was surpised at this review. Looking at other reviews on the net this one seems harsh.

    [link url=htt p://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/943270.asp
    ]http://ww w.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/9...[/link]

    Most sites reckon its a fun if very short game, but given you get the zapper and game for £15-20, it's going to easily make that back when I take it to my parents come christmas day.