Wii Play Review

By Kristan Reed Published 4 December, 2006

Includes water sports.

Version tested: Wii

Launching the Wii with just one big first party title is something of a calculated gamble for Nintendo. It knows that enough hardcore early adopters will be more than content to plough through Zelda over Christmas - but at the same time it has to try and gently educate the casual audience about how to use a Wii remote without being too patronising about it.

The first step, of course, is to bundle Wii Sports with the console and give everyone a suite of pick-up-and-play multiplayer games. Admittedly, for all its charms, it's not really got the depth to justify its release as a standalone product. But, even so, it's something you'll be more than happy to stick on to amuse friends and normally reluctant family members - just as everyone did with EyeToy.

But the inevitable problem with any new console is the bothersome need to buy extra controllers - and the Wii is no exception to the rule. Fortunately Nintendo has sweetened the prospect of buying a second Wii remote slightly by making Wii Play available as part of a bundle pack for £34.99 - only £5 more than a controller costs on its own.

Multiiplayer fun

Again, Wii Play is a product that you'd arguably give a wide berth to on its own, somewhat limited, merits, but for the price it's a fun, social means of being shown the ropes for a new type of control device that new Wii owners will be hungry for. So, in the process of including Wii Sports in the main package and Wii Play for an extra £5 with the Wii remotes, Nintendo has managed to come up with a way of not only seamlessly demonstrating the console's accessibility, but showing them off in a social context. Cunning stunts.

'Wii Play' Screenshot 1

The premise for each of the nine mini-games in the Wii Play package couldn't be much simpler, but almost all of them provide a few minutes of instant fun when played - as intended - in simultaneous two-player versus mode. Each of the games are designed as straightforward score-based versus games, so if you don't have any mates on hand (sob) then bear that in mind before you contemplate shelling out for it.

Also advisable before you play is to take some time out to design your 'Mii' character (and your opponent's) in the Wii dash, as you'll be able to use it throughout Wii Play. It makes no difference to the gameplay (apart from storing high scores and so on), but it certainly improves the amusement factor considerably.

Past inspiration

Unlockable in sequence, the game kicks off with Shooting Range - a lightgun-style shooting test that doffs its cap firmly in the direction of Duck Hunt, one of Nintendo's oldest NES hits. The idea, needless to say, is to try and shoot targets as they appear on the screen before your opponent, with bonus points being awarded for managing to shoot consecutive targets, or special targets like ducks and disks which zoom across the screen, or targets with your opponent's face on. Each of the short levels gets progressively harder, and the player with the highest score wins the round. Simple, easy to control, and one of many of the games which literally anyone with any semblance of co-ordination could play - the sensitivity and accuracy of the Wii remote is shown off immediately.

'Wii Play' Screenshot 2

Another game to coach you in the basic art of pointing the Wii remote is the 'Find Mii' stage. Similar to the recognition tests in Brain Academy, you have to, for example, point and click on the two identical faces in a crowd of other Miis before your opponent. To begin with, the Miis are stationary and pretty easy to identify, but as you progress they start moving around and descending down escalators and so on - making the seemingly simple task rather tricky in no time. A bit of a throwaway one this, but serves its purpose in getting players used to the fine movements required in pointing at the screen.

Stage 3 - Table Tennis - could have easily have found its way into Wii Sports, and is an instantly engaging but slightly limited means of showing off the fast-paced racket sport. The idea is to reach 11 points first, but getting there is as dependent on your opponent's inability to grasp the control system as your own skill. Once you've served with the A button, the only thing to worry about is moving the paddle left and right and attempting to meet the trajectory of the ball - as long as you can anticipate that, you automatically return the ball - meaning some pretty lengthy rallies ensue if you both grasp the concept well. You can put more pace on the return shot, but it's a risky business.

Strike a pose

Pose Mii, the fourth of the nine stages tests your ability to twist the Wii remote accurately and also tasks players with matching one of three poses before their opponent. To begin with it's just a case of selecting the right pose and pointing it at the appropriate silhouette before it falls to the bottom of the screen. Soon enough, though, you have to also make sure you've twisted the correct Mii pose to the desired angle as well - not easy when there are several silhouettes all falling down at the same time. If either player misses three of their silhouettes, it's Game Over for them, and the player with the highest score wins.

Laser hockey, meanwhile, is reminiscent of those air hockey games in the arcade where you have to try and whack the puck into your opponent's goal while doing your best to defend your own goal. Once again, this game's designed to not only improve pointing skills, but also give players practice in twisting the Wii remote. With an added bit of angle applied to your paddle, you can ricochet shots in off the sides of the court and bamboozle your hapless opponent - or end up getting yourself in a horrible muddle and score some embarrassing own goals by trying to be too clever. Like a logical progression of the kind of bat and ball Pong variants that many of us played in the late '70s and early '80s, Laser Hockey is definitely one we'll be returning to repeatedly.

Even better is Billiards - a fantastic demonstration of the Wii remote's potential. Displayed in familiar 3D view (or overhead view with the A button), you first have to line up the direction of your shot by holding down the B (trigger) button and pointing it left or right of the ball (or using the d-pad). Once you're happy with the direction, you then have to tentatively position the precise spot where you want to hit the cue ball, allowing you to apply the necessary backspin or topspin as required. And once that's applied, you use the Wii remote like a proper cue, pulling back on it with a cue motion (with B held down), slamming it forward to connect the cue with the ball and releasing B at the same time. If you mess up you'll be deducted points from your eventual total and the other player gets to place the cue ball anywhere on the table. As a quick demonstration of what the Wii remote is capable of, this is hugely satisfying, although Pool would have been even better.

A nice hook

'Wii Play' Screenshot 3

Fishing, meanwhile, is one of the mini-games which has much in the way of potential, but seems rather too fiddly for its own good. The premise and execution is easy enough - simply dunk your rod in a small-ish pool and try and coax your hook near the mouths of the (rather large) fish that swim around obligingly. Once you get a bite, the Wii remote vibrates slightly, giving you a small window of opportunity to swing the controller upwards as if you were hooking it out of the water. Often, though, the fish will get away unless you're quick, leaving you to try and reposition your rod at the same time as your player. Sometimes you'll find yourself going for the same fish (especially the larger, more valuable, bonus fish), so just make sure you're wearing headgear - as there's a tendency for the Wii remote to be used as a weapon when you win.

The eighth stage, Charge, is a pretty simplistic racing game where you're basically tasked with riding a cow and score points by knocking down as many scarecrows as you can along the way. Utilising a mixture of tilting and upward swinging, you first have to use the Wii remote in the unfamiliar horizontal orientation - rather like a handlebar. Effectively all you have to do to win is push forward to speed up and steer left and right to guide your cow towards the many scarecrows that litter the course, with optional upward swings to jump over the hurdles, or tilt downwards towards you to slow down. With a simple 'most points wins' premise and an easy control system, it's a good demonstration of how it will be used in racing games, but ultimately too shallow to offer much entertainment for more than a few attempts.

'Wii Play' Screenshot 4

The last of the nine stages, Tanks, is the only one to make use of the Nunchuck directional control - and it's optional at that. The action is displayed in old-school bird's eye view, and the general idea is to use shells and mines to destroy all the enemies on the screen. Doing so requires not only being able to aim and shoot at your target successfully, but steering your tank as well - either via the d-pad on the Wii remote or the easier method of hooking up the Nunchuck analogue stick. Once you've cleared the screen, you move onto a slightly more difficult stage - often with walls obscuring your target, thus requiring a little more effort in terms of steering properly. Again, it's one of those stages which is simple and mildly amusing for a few goes, but spectacularly lacking in long-term depth. It certainly serves its purpose in preparing Wii owners for similar games that require dual aiming and movement co-ordination, but beyond that, its inclusion is questionable.

Wii Play is definitely a good means of making sure players from less experienced backgrounds get to get used to various game types and control system before they're unleashed into the wider world. The likes of Billiards, Shooting Gallery and Laser Hockey have the sort of Everyman appeal that Nintendo is right to place front and centre in an introductory budget release like this. On the other hand, the very fact that Wii Play is so deliberately basic by design means that it's a compilation that only scratches the surface of the types of games we're likely to see designed to exploit the Wii remote. Wii Play has a few timeless gems that should prove to be party favourites this Christmas, but regular gamer, in particular, shouldn't expect the novelty value to endure much beyond that. Think of this as commercial tutorial.

6 / 10

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Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (67) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Der_tolle_Emil #1 5 years ago

    I would not have it preordered if it did not come with a wiimote. I guess this is the main reason why people will be interested in this.

  • Tiiti #2 5 years ago

    Slightly off topic, sorry, but I'm wondering if there are many titles that actually require the nunchuck? £20 for the Wiimote and then an addtional £15 for a nunchuck is a bit of a pain in the arse.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/06 @ 11:56

  • Rambaldi #3 5 years ago

    "but regular gamers, in particular, shouldn't expect the novelty value to endure much beyond that"

    A comment on the Wii as a whole methinks although the jury's still out...

  • krudster #4 5 years ago

    Zelda requires it - not sure about the others yet.

  • Psi #5 5 years ago

    ah, bugger ordered this coz of the controller. no worries wasnt' that expensive considering

  • melw #6 5 years ago

    Just like Wii Sports, Wii Play is a bundle... I'd consider this as a nice extra for buying extra wiimote, nothing more. If it was a stand-alone title, this game would be mostly a rip-off.

  • chupachups #7 5 years ago

    How much extra are they charging for the game compared to buying the controller separately?

  • krudster #8 5 years ago

    £5 more.

    Seems I was fed duff price info - the Wii Remotes appear to retail separately for £29.99, not £19.99.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/06 @ 12:09

  • Rambaldi #9 5 years ago

    @krudster

    Would you recommend a Wii for Zelda or a second hand Cube considering £150+ price difference?
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/06 @ 12:01

  • Psi #10 5 years ago

    if zelda is the only game you think you'll ever be wanting to play then dont bother with a wii :S

    or wait till maz galaxy is out then decide.

  • Arkanite #11 5 years ago

    I never thought of buying this just for myself, it's made to play with friends.
    Here in Aust, you can purchase the Play package in the first week for $65, where the RRP of a Wii remote is $70.
    Only 3.5 days to go here, and there is no way that I'm not getting this game :)

  • Phattso #12 5 years ago

    Are you sure, Krudster? I was under the impression that the WiiMote on its own was £29.99 (going by most retailers) with just a £5 premium for the WiiPlay variant?

    That said, I've only had one coffee so far today. And it wasn't a strong one. So I may be thinking of something else entirely.

  • chupachups #13 5 years ago

    "£15 more."

    ...sounds worth a giggle then.

  • crazyhorse174 #14 5 years ago

    OK...I'm confused.

    People are actually happy about buying a sub-standard game, because they get a controller with it? Even though the controller is actually cheaper if you buy it on its own?

    If people want to fork out an extra 15 notes than what they would pay for a controller, the who I'm I to stop them I suppose? Just seems a bit odd, when people will probably play the "game" for about 10min and never use it again. Would be easier to just buy a controller and save yourself 15 quid.

  • Wobbler #15 5 years ago

    Aren't Wiimotes £30 by themselves? (which makes Wii Play only £5 more expensive, doesn't it?)

    EDIT: or what Phattso said :)
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/06 @ 12:01

  • Rambaldi #16 5 years ago

    Does the Wii come with a Wiimote? Dumb Q, I know, but I don't know the answer!

  • Der_tolle_Emil #17 5 years ago

    I of course haven't played Zelda on the Wii yet but most of the people, even the ones who were incredibly doubtful of the Wiimote agreed that the Wii version really plays well and is a lot of fun due to the controls.

    Tiiti: Red Steel also requires the nunchuk, Trauma Centre does and I would not be surprised if Monkeyball required it too.

    edit: As far as I know the Wiiplay with the wiimote is just about 10€ more expensive than a single wiimote. If there was a higher price difference I would just have ordered a single wiimote without wiiplay. 15 pounds seems much, much more than I remember.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/06 @ 12:01

  • glo #18 5 years ago

    Just looked on Gameplay/Play/Amazon, remotes cost £29.99 so you are only playing £5 extra to get WiiPlay. Seems more of a bargain at that price surely?

  • lennon #19 5 years ago

    According to gameplay Wiimote £30 Wii Play £35 Nunchuck £15

  • varsas #20 5 years ago

    If you look around online you can get Wii Play for £29.99.

    EDIT: GAME have the Wiimote at £29.99 and Wii Play at £34.99 but as I mentioned you can the latter at the same price as the former. The Nunchuk is £14.99 but you can get that online for £11.99.
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/06 @ 12:09

  • Eighthours #21 5 years ago

    Yes, the Wii comes with a Wiimote.

    Just a thought, does the console come with a Nunchuk as well? I know that Wii Play only includes the Wiimote itself... what about the boxed console?

  • lennon #22 5 years ago

    @Eighthours - Yes according to Gameplay it does.

  • brokenkey #23 5 years ago

    Does the score change if the game costs only £5?

    @varsas - where?
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/06 @ 12:07

  • chupachups #24 5 years ago

    If it's only £5 extra... heck, that's a bargain then, assuming you were going to buy the controller anyway.

  • DanMW #25 5 years ago

    The cheapest Wiimote I found was for £24.99 at HMV for £5 more I thought I might as well get Wii Play.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/06 @ 12:09

  • Tonka #26 5 years ago

    With your Wii you will get
    Wii remote
    Nunchuck
    Wii Sports
    Crappy cable to connect to tv
    Powerbrick
    Istruction manual
    Plastic wrappings
    Cardboardbox to hold it all (you don't have to bring your own)
    + some other stuff like health warnings etc.

    Of course it comes with a controller. There are limits to Nintendos greed. I can understand if you are unsure about the nunchuck but releasing a console without a controller would be madness.

  • krudster #27 5 years ago

    Score still applies, but it's definitely better value than I originally thought.

  • varsas #28 5 years ago

    @brokenkey: PowerPlayDirect have Wii Play for £29.99 plus I get a couple of quid off through a voucher :D

    DanMW is right about HMV having the cheapest price on the controllers at the moment afaik.

    As has been mentioned £5 is pretty good for some fun games to play...afterall you are buying an extra controller so I would assume having extra multiplayer party games would be a good deal?
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/06 @ 12:13

  • SBfistfun #29 5 years ago

    I wuv wii play me!

  • varsas #30 5 years ago

    @Tonka: Thanks for that I wasn't sure about the Nunchuk...I better remove 1 Nunchuk from my order with HMV :p

  • GingerNathan #31 5 years ago

    Score still applies, but it's definitely better value than I originally thought.

    How do you figure that, if the game retailed at forty quid by itself then no way would it have been given a six (more like one or two). As the game is a third of the price you thought it is then surely it must effect the score; for a fiver it's a must have if you're buying an extra remote :/.

  • Tonka #32 5 years ago

    @Varsas: Are you buying wii play? Then I think you should hold on to that nunchuck. That way you get two complete sets (remote + nunchuck)

  • crazyhorse174 #33 5 years ago

    5 quid extra aint too bad I suppose - even I'll admit that!

    15 just seemed a bit excessive for what is essentially a tutorial.

    Still not sure about the whole Wii thing anyway - need to see some decent titles (other than Zelda) before I make a decision to buy.

  • SBfistfun #34 5 years ago

    I really wanted a wii but Iv'e held on that long it's turned out it's going to be poo :(

  • chupachups #35 5 years ago

    "I really wanted a wii but Iv'e held on that long it's turned out it's going to be poo"

    Eh? They haven't even launched it yet!

  • varsas #36 5 years ago

    @Tonka: I ordered 2 from HMV so I only need the 1 now for 2 complete sets.

    On the issue of games for the Wii, there are a lot novelty games and lazy conversions but that was also the case with the DS. I think that if the big players look at the potential that Nintendo themselves and some developers are showing with Wii, as with the DS, then it should succeed.

    What we don't need to developers continuing to be lazy when it's so easy to develop for the machine compared to 360 and PS3. Innovation and thought into getting the control scheme spot on should not require that much more effort?

  • chupachups #37 5 years ago

    "On the issue of games for the Wii, there are a lot novelty games and lazy conversions but that was also the case with the DS. "

    I can't believe you're judging the Wii by what is out now, it's only just launched in Japan and America and we haven't even got it yet.

    Look at any console launch and you'll see a big load of crap. The time to judge the Wii is next Xmas.

  • varsas #38 5 years ago

    @chupachups: I hope you don't think I'm judging the Wii based on the launch? I was making the point that you shouldn't judge it at launch citing the example of the DS...

  • gth #39 5 years ago

    Wii Play = EyeToy Play

  • floppylobster #40 5 years ago

    Look at those graphics. Stunning.

    (but who cares it's so much fun, like Robotron 2084!)

  • Kay #41 5 years ago

    Right, this doesn't seem great, but for just £5 more than the remote it's got to be worth it. The controllers are hideously expensive, though - £45 for the full package? Extortionate.

    Krudster - Monkey Ball review anytime soon? I'm still undecided on it...

    K

  • krudster #42 5 years ago

    Monkey Ball hopefully by the end of the week.

  • Santino #43 5 years ago

    i'd happily pay the extra £5 for the shooting game alone

    edit: any rough estimate when the twilight princess review will be up?
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/06 @ 13:26

  • Sid-Nice #44 5 years ago

    Why buy crap like this when you can download better games from the Xbox Live Dashboard? This isn't a game it's a rip off.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #45 5 years ago

    'cos it's cheap and fun?

  • Muddtallica #46 5 years ago

    I'll be the first to admit that the price of a full controller set (Remote + Nunchuk) is far too high, but I can't see how anybody can say that a measly five pounds for what sounds like a reasonably fun set of mini-games is a rip-off, especially given that it's a completely optional extra that costs you nothing if you don't want it...

    I was always going to buy at least one extra Remote anyway, so I'll probably give this a go. Couldn't hurt.

  • AcidSnake #47 5 years ago

    Another question, although I have already got the game in a special box marked with my name on it at the local gamesdealer (along with zelda) does Wii Play have it's own case? Or are we talking paper cover type stuff...
    I just glimpsed at the box, I didn't check what was in it...

  • krudster #48 5 years ago

    Proper box included.

  • Tiiti #49 5 years ago

    £45 for the full controller set is a bit bloody steep!

    I find it hard to justify £30 for an extra 360 controller as it is! Pfft!

  • theweaze #50 5 years ago

    Yeah think this is the way to go, i soo want a wii but havent pre orded so it doesnt look too promising :(

  • Sid-Nice #51 5 years ago

    I had sex with a convent girl once; she said "I'll chuck in a nun for an extra £15."

  • cyber_nicco #52 5 years ago

    Is it just me, or does it seem like this review is a bit too kind to this "game"?

  • AOFanboi #53 5 years ago

    <em>Why buy crap like this when you can download better games from the Xbox Live Dashboard?</em>

    Because to do that you would have to buy Microsoft's crap first. Not everyone were that stupid, and we don't have XBox Live. Oh, and because the XBox 360 doesn't have a motion controller and so does not even enter the same ballpark.

  • Kiigan #54 5 years ago

    "Launching the Wii with just one big first party title is something of a calculated gamble for Nintendo"

    I'd hardly say it was a calculated gamble... if they had more games ready, you better believe they'd get them out for launch day. They had to release the Wii for Xmas 2006 though, and they had to release whatever old shit they could cobble together quickly.

  • Ace_McCloud #55 5 years ago

    "...but showing them off in a social context. Cunning stunts."

    Is this one of those - I dont know the correct english term for it, maybe someone can fill me in - things where you're swapped the letters of the beginning of each word around? What I'm trying to ask is, is Cunning stunts actually Stunning Cunts?

    You Meeky Chunky you!

  • krudster #56 5 years ago

    Spoonerism?

  • Eighthours #57 5 years ago

    No, they want to spread the games releases over next year...

    Hmmm... I'm not convinced of this, you know. I'm fairly certain we'll have the same droughts as we usually have.

  • manic_mouse #58 5 years ago

    £45 for an extra controller... Wow. So a Wii and four controlers (how it's meant to be played) will set you back £315 notes. A bit much IMHO

  • SirScratchalot #59 5 years ago

    ""Launching the Wii with just one big first party title is something of a calculated gamble for Nintendo"

    I'd hardly say it was a calculated gamble... if they had more games ready, you better believe they'd get them out for launch day. They had to release the Wii for Xmas 2006 though, and they had to release whatever old shit they could cobble together quickly.     "

    Over on 1up they speculated that this was in fact a delibrate attempt to smooch up to the third parties. One of the most common 3rd party complaints is supposedly that Nintendo 1rst party games eat too much of the market for their games.

  • chupachups #60 5 years ago

    "I hope you don't think I'm judging the Wii based on the launch? I was making the point that you shouldn't judge it at launch citing the example of the DS..."

    Ah, sorry. I should have read your post more carefully.

  • Carrybagma #61 5 years ago

    Also is the Wii home of the mini game?

    I'm afraid so. I expect a deluge of party-shite to flood the console - everyone will have had enough by February and be gagging for something different. Trouble is, I don't think there's enough 'different' stuff lined up, as publishers probably assumed that the Wii would be a Gamecube-style commercial stinker and so sunk their resources into PS/360. It'll take a while to catch up now.

    I reckon Nintendo have deliberately stretched out their first-part release schedule because of this. I understood Mario and Metroid to be ready for release by now, but we'll have to wait in order for Nintendo to fill the gaps in the schedule. imo.

  • trench #62 5 years ago

    Not sure what all the grumbling is about. 6/10 seems perfectly fair trading the brevity of the games against the £5 pricetag. Billiards and Laser Hockey should be worth the price of admission alone.

  • smelly #63 5 years ago

    "Launching the Wii with just one big first party title is something of a calculated gamble for Nintendo"


    And the 360 launched with how many big first party titles?
    And the ps3 launched with how many good games at all? (none)

  • RedPanda #64 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • smelly #65 5 years ago

    >Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero.

    Neither of which were great games were they? Not really first party either, 2nd party rare games.. But okay i'll stand corrected.

    >Resistance Fall of Man and Untold Legends.

    Obviously i havent had chance to play ps3 to know if they're any good myself.. but I'll give them resistance as it's got some good review scores (hadnt heard of it until you just posted that though - embarrasingly).


    But yeah, if you look at average wii review scores (and I hate looking at scores), the wii launch line up is VERY good in comparision with others

  • mattman #66 5 years ago

    "Nintendo has managed to come up with a way of not only seamlessly demonstrating the console's accessibility, but showing them off in a social context. Cunning stunts."

    Right as that may be, 'cunning stunts' is a slippy phrase to be used for casual readers like me. I misread that as, uh, well... I swapped the initial sounds. Or was that a Freudian slip?

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