Wii Game Roundup Review

By Richard Leadbetter Published 11 May, 2007

Heatseeker, Godfather, Rampage and then a spot of fishing.

Version tested: Wii

Heatseeker

Codemasters' Heatseeker is a game that strongly emphasises the bipolar Jekyll and Hyde attributes of many Wii titles. At its most basic level, it's an Ace Combat-style arcade flying game that boasts a fun, innovative control system that makes the most of the Wiimote motion sensors. However, as is the case with many Wii titles it looks like an absolute dog's dinner - with excessively basic graphics the PS2 would be embarrassed in rendering.

As is usual with the Ace Combat formula, gameplay boils down to blowing things up in the air, bombing things at ground (or sea) level and defending things against a combination of the things you'd otherwise be shooting down or bombing anyway. Helping to add some degree of variety to the proceedings is the range of aircraft at your disposal; the gamut of modern fighter aircraft are at your disposal as you progress through the game, including F-15s, F-16s, MiGs, Blackhawks and F/A-18s. Each aircraft feels like a different beast when you're behind the stick and takes a little time to master, helping to add an element of challenge to each of the 18 levels.

'Wii Game Roundup' Screenshot 1

The game's core strength is in its utilisation of the Wiimote. Two different control methods are on offer, based around the notion of the fighter's joystick being emulated by either tilting the remote itself or the nunchuk. While the control system (particularly the remote variation) initially feels very unintuitive, you adjust quickly and aside from feeling fresh and different, there are a number of nice touches. In particular the ability to use the tilt controls to accurately target cannon fire works beautifully. However, some of the fingertip gymnastics required in utilising the wingman options are stupidly hard - for example, holding down A and at the same time using the d-pad while still flying the plane - and pretty much impossible unless you have three hands.

Heatseeker's generally fun to play, but it's just a real shame it's so graphically poor. Even with its basic graphics, there's no 480p support which serves to make it look even uglier on LCD displays. Combine this ruthless beating with the ugly stick with the essential lack of variety inherent in these arcade air combat games and you have a title only really worth considering once it's in the bargain bins.

5 / 10

The Godfather: Black Hand Edition

EA's stab at the sandbox genre attracted generally positive reviews in its current gen and Xbox 360 incarnations (check out Kristan's review for the full low-down), but for all of its positive qualities, the Godfather is a mere enforcer when compared to the full Don-level experience offered by the likes of the Grand Theft Auto games and, latterly, Crackdown.

While most of the gameplay flaws inherent in the previous versions are still there in this new version, there are a number of factors that may make this far more appealing to the average Wii owner. For a start, the Black Hand edition has all of the enhancements of the new PS3 "Don Edition" - such as an additional 30 story mode missions, additional cars, weapons, and mob tactics. Also of note is an intelligently-conceived Wiimote control method that enhances an already decent combat system and improves on it. Wii Sports-style boxing techniques are the centrepiece of hand-to-hand combat (though the throttling is fun too) while an IR-based free targeting solution adds greatly to the gunplay - useful for headshots, kneecappings and disarming enemies.

'Wii Game Roundup' Screenshot 2

Graphically there's little here that would trouble the PlayStation 2, and the game's cityscapes are plagued with polygon-tearing and oodles of pop-up most noticeable while driving. However, most of the time is spent on foot and the character models, interiors and in-game animations are pretty good, with the game engine-generated cut-scenes showing off decent levels of detail. The game is also fully 480p and widescreen compatible - something that really makes a difference.

Of course, for EA, The Godfather's key advantage is that it's the only sandbox game in town and with few publishers keen to port their next-gen wares to Wii, it's a state of affairs unlikely to change. So it's just as well that this is generally a decent, well-thought out and enjoyable conversion.

7 / 10

Rampage Total Destruction

Midway's original Rampage coin-op was a near-perfect concept for the mid-'80s arcade market - 20p bought you a few minutes' worth of monster-fuelled city destruction low on variety, high on enjoyment. It's just a shame that the game ever left the arcades because the core concept of relentless, monotonous destruction simply never worked on the home consoles.

Rampage Total Destruction tries to paper over the cracks with a bogglingly large array of enhancements to the core game. For a start there are 25 different monsters to unlock, each with a range of power-up abilities you earn by achieving different goals set on each level. Secondly, the threat level has been upped considerably with bullets flying at you from all sides and far more military hardware on-screen causing bother. Finally, the game has made its way into the third dimension, with a limited amount of depth to the gameplay arena that essentially boils down to having additional rows of buildings to bring down before the curtain falls on each level.

Unfortunately, the basics haven't changed since it first debuted in arcades in 1986. Bringing a building down is all about climbing it, bashing it, watching it fall down, then moving onto the next... then the next... and the next. Sure, powering-up your monster makes the job easier but the relentless pounding grows tiring within 15 minutes, no matter what power-ups the game may have, or what additional enemies are despatched to bring you down. It's all extremely monotonous - distressing so, I'd imagine, if you'd paid GBP 20 for the game.

'Wii Game Roundup' Screenshot 3

The fact that Total Destruction is essentially a GameCube port doesn't help matters either. It has a supremely basic control system that takes next to no advantage of the Wiimote short of the odd swipe or smash here and there, and graphically it's all very backward with no progressive scan or widescreen support.

On paper, Rampage Total Destruction has a lot going for it: a vast menagerie of monsters to control, plenty of cities to destroy and complete arcade conversions of the original Rampage and Rampage World Tour available to unlock. But the bottom line is that the core gameplay is tedious beyond belief - so much so that I doubt you'd even get value from renting it.

3 / 10

Rapala Tournament Fishing

At its most basic level, Rapala Tournament Fishing is essentially a port of an existing console game embellished with a whole new control system uniquely suited to Nintendo's motion-sensing Wiimote. Considering how perfect the remote and nunchuk are for videogaming angling (as witnessed to some extent in The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess) it's acutely surprising that this game is as shockingly poor as it actually is.

In theory, it should be a completely different story; the basics all appear to be present and correct - a vast range of fishing equipment on tap, 11 different locations to explore and fish to their very limits, 20 tournaments to compete in, multiple game modes including an arcade mode and time trials... it's clear that some effort has been put into giving the player as many different angling options as possible.

The problem is that the implementation of the control system on the Wii is absolutely abysmal, to the point where the ultra-simplistic d-pad control of your boat is marginally more satisfying and infinitely more responsive than the fishing itself. The core problem is one of response. Once you've cast off and your line is in the water, catching a bite essentially boils down to wobbling the controller about and seeing what happens. Your movements do not actually seem to correlate too closely with the 'action' on-screen and there's zero skill whatsoever required in hooking a fish. Regardless of the user's input, chances are that within seconds you'll get a bite any way. Then there's the process of reeling in the fish - an unsatisfying event where the controls seem to act merely in an advisory capacity. There is some nod to the concept of the tension on the line, and in some cases, the fish will break free and escape - it's just a shame that the response is so utterly poor that you rarely feel engaged in the process at all.

'Wii Game Roundup' Screenshot 4

If the control system ruins the game, the graphics do little to mitigate matters - definition and animation are both poor, mediocre even by current gen standards. There's no love for 480p or widescreen either, making the game look and feel even more like a run-of-the-mill PS2 game.

I can't say that I have much love for the sport itself, but games like SEGA Bass Fishing/Get Bass prove that if the gameplay and control method feel right, the concept works and can prove to be very entertaining. That being the case, Rapala Tournament Fishing is frankly terrible considering the rich potential the Wii controller offers for games of this ilk.

3 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Richard.

About Richard Leadbetter

Rich has been a games journalist since the days of 16-bit and specialises in technical analysis. Commonly known around Eurogamer as the Blacksmith of the Future.

Read more articles from Richard by visiting the Richard Leadbetter archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (56) Latest comment 5 years ago

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

  • Cloudane #1 5 years ago

    The Godfather is actually QUITE a decent Wii game even if it does feel like playing a PS2 game with the Wii Remote controls tacked on (as an after thought) at times.

    The last Wii game I bought was WarioWare: Smooth Moves (January) and the two rather enjoyable Excite Truck and Kororinpa in February - since then, fuck all unfortunately.

  • Saladin #2 5 years ago

    I hate these round-up things. Why didn't these games deserve full reviews? It's not like they're all shit titles either. The Godfather is actually good (something rare on the Wii).

  • aldo_14 #3 5 years ago

    Have to say I'd rate Heatseeker a couple of points higher than that, myself :).

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 5 years ago

    I'd rate Heatseeker higher too. It's good, although cheesy, fun.

  • krudster #5 5 years ago

    Saladin, you might not realise how many games actually come out every month, but it's way more than we can cover.

    As it is, we do roughly 60-65 full reviews every month, and decided that the best way to cover the rest was to simply round them up. We don't have an unlimited budget to cover every single game (and individual versions of every game - now with the Wii and PS2 versions often totally different to next gen and handheld, it's an even bigger headache), so this is the best compromise we could come up with.

    The other thing is...they've proven very popular. Single reviews of obscure or lesser titles (or just late ports) aren't generally very popular, whereas this format seems much more attractive to the average reader.
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/07 @ 11:36

  • Overlush #6 5 years ago

    Says something about the Wii library when four new releases get reviewed in the same article.

    EDIT: just read krudster's post and, yeah, okay, but my point still stands. Were the Wii not getting boatloads of shovelware or underdevloped tripe, this bunching of reviews probably wouldn't have happened.

    How can a piece of hardware with such potential be getting so much uninspiring bile on such a regular basis? My faith in the industry is dented:(
    Edited by 2 at 11/05/07 @ 11:42

  • dirigiblebill #7 5 years ago

    I think the multi-review format is solid enough for obscure or ported titles, and I appreciate the limited budget.

    Anyways- the Wii continues to suffer a bit of a drought, poor thing.

  • Tomo #8 5 years ago

    I think that was a great article. It's perfect for things like the Godfather port too. Madden 07 Wii review please! It's criminal that you haven't done it so far :p

  • Wayne #9 5 years ago

    I feel sorry for the reviewer having to play these games (except for The Godfather).

  • Tonka #10 5 years ago

    I like the roundups. Do them more often. It's not as if the text is important anyway. Just the score would be enough.

  • bauhaus #11 5 years ago

    Gutted, really fancied Rampage and the Fishing

    Wii gathers more dust....

  • Freek #12 5 years ago

    It's anoying that developers have interpreted Nintendo's lack of emphesasis on visuals as "lets not bother at all then".
    Sure, it's not next gen but there's still allot of nice things you can do with NGC/Xbox type hardware.
    It's as if developers have suddenly completly forgotten how to make games for that kind of hardware.

  • presh #13 5 years ago

    I htink these roundups are very handy - it's a quick and easy way of seeing if any of the lesser games coming out for consoles are worth getting.

    Having said that, when all the games in the roundup (Godfather excepted) look this poor, its a very sad state of affairs for Wii owners.

  • krudster #14 5 years ago

    We've got a few more Wii round ups coming your way - one to round up the kids titles that we haven't looked at, and one to give you a steer on some of the Jap stuff that hasn't come out here (and may not ever).

  • Killerbee #15 5 years ago

    For these games, I think this sort of round-up is the perfect format.

    Let's face it, two are shit (so we wouldn't really want EG to waste its time doing a full review) and the other two have already been reviewed on other formats, so this serves as a perfect little addendum to the lead review by describing what's different on the Wii.

  • krudster #16 5 years ago

    Amen to that. That's exactly why we're doing them this way.

  • All_the_girly_men #17 5 years ago

    Jeez, how much longer before the Wii collapses under the weight all the crap that's being shovelled onto it.

  • SBfistfun #18 5 years ago

    Piss poor.....


    Zoinks!

  • aldo_14 #19 5 years ago

    If Eurogamer tracked the time some one spends reading the review of a bad game compared to a good game, I predict it would be considerably shorter. Keep it up Eurogamer

    I dunno, sometimes the piss-poor game reviews are the most fun to read....

  • spongebob #20 5 years ago

    I love these roundups. You just should more of them for XBLA and VC and leave long reviews to bigger titles or games that really deserve it.

    Of course, for EA, The Godfather's key advantage is that it's the only sandbox game in town and with few publishers keen to port their next-gen wares to Wii, it's a state of affairs unlikely to change. So it's just as well that this is generally a decent, well-thought out and enjoyable conversion.

    Scarface fan (the game, not the movie) number one here would like to point out that when Scarface Wii comes out The Godfather is not the only game in town. And I think it's coming out quite soon.

  • UncleLou #21 5 years ago

    Shame about the poor graphics of Heatseeker, I wanted this to be better, but I see no reason to buy a game that's below Ace Combat's standard.

    edit:

    Why the heck did I make an apostrophe behind "below"? :/
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/07 @ 12:47

  • mechamonkey #22 5 years ago

    Loving the review round ups, great idea.

    I thought Heatseeker was great fun , shame aout the graphics but still worth a shot.

  • Trendyninja #23 5 years ago

    The only purpose this article has served for me is in reminding me what a great decision I made in getting rid of my Nintendo Wii.

    What a truly depressing round up of games this is, although this does seem to be becoming the standard for Wii games doesn't it?

    I would go as far as to say that the Nintendo Wii will be Nintendo's last home console.

    Seriously.

  • stoopidgreg #24 5 years ago

    i wonder when the second good wii game will come out.... really, the wii has the worst lineup

  • Nova5lag #25 5 years ago

    Trendyninja... what are you on about... the Wii has been a huge winner for Nintendo and the DS as well. They have made more than enough money to be arround for a few more generations I'd wager.

  • andyk #26 5 years ago

    @Overlush
    "How can a piece of hardware with such potential be getting so much uninspiring bile on such a regular basis?"

    That's what Ninty owners have been saying since the 64.

  • Sid-Nice #27 5 years ago

    This is excellent ammunition for the anti Wii brigade. You need to stop drinking on your Friday lunch break.

  • Chtulie #28 5 years ago

    Good lord, when was the last time a console had as many games and as many diffirent type of games so soon after launch as the Wii?

  • zuljin #29 5 years ago

    @krudster
    "Saladin, you might not realise how many games actually come out every month, but it's way more than we can cover."

    So many games to play and write about... What a hard life that must be :)

  • aldo_14 #30 5 years ago

    The wii will fail in the long term, and all you wii owners know it deep down.

    Why did you post this? I mean, what's the point? Where is the gratification derived from? What is the contribution intended?

    I've never understood it. Except to annoy irrational fanboy peeps. And I don't see any here.

  • figaro7 #31 5 years ago

    Glad to see the godfather got a 7, it thoroughly deserves to be on everybodies wii list at the moment. Since most games are 1 page reviews, and each game got a full page, i dont see how this roundup is any different from any other review, good work guys!

  • knocker #32 5 years ago

    "The wii will fail in the long term, and all you wii owners know it deep down. "

    Fail ? In what respect ? I am happy enough with my purchase - and if it was announced that no new wii games would be released -ever- I wouldn't be too fussed*.

    And apparently nintendo are making enough money - so where's the problem ?

    (*admittedly I am a hardware geek - not your typical consumer)

  • Brianstorm #33 5 years ago

    @Krudster

    Liked the round up, hadn't considered godfather beofre may give it a look now.

    Also, when you review Mario Strikers can you make sure you've played the online element, just read a review in EDGE and couldn't believe they rated it without even trying the online mode, not like them at all....

  • knocker #34 5 years ago

    @ Kato

    Agreed :-D

  • PameBoy #35 5 years ago

    The review roundups aren't such a bad idea, although I was a bit saddened to see the Godfather lumped in with 3 shite titles - I think there's more than enough interesting points to make about it to justify a full review.

    I got it after making the horrible mistake of buying Sonic & the secret rings (AWFUL), took it back to the shop and got the Godfather instead.

    It's an excellent example of a game truly being improved by the inclusion of Wii controls, the one thing that pushes it beyond "average GTA clone" and making it actually the best version available. Wii title in well-handled port shocker! The graphics are good enough, too, and this ought to be considered one of the must-have Wii titles for early adopters. It's unfortunate that the relative lack of coverage in the European gaming media means it may well be overlooked.

  • jebus #36 5 years ago

    @DAMAGE.INC.
    The wii will fail in the long term, and all you wii owners know it deep down.

    LOL - sure it will - what with the top 20 all being Nintendo titles.





    Jap Software Sales
    The highest ranked non-Nintendo format game was Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd for the PSP at number twenty-two. The highest ranked PlayStation 2 title was Konami’s Pro Baseball Spirits 4 at number twenty-six. There were no PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 titles in the top thirty.

    (Hardware sales data for the week in Japan will be available from tomorrow morning.)

    TW LW Title Publisher Format Weekly Sales
    1 1 Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Square Enix DS 109,326
    2 3 Super Paper Mario Nintendo Wii 90,151
    3 4 Wii Sports Nintendo Wii 84,782
    4 12 Yoshi's Island DS Nintendo DS 58,948
    5 6 Hajimete no Wii Nintendo Wii 58,718
    6 8 Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: MiniMini Daikoushin! Nintendo DS 57,741
    7 5 Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku Nintendo Wii 55,165
    8 14 New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo DS 51,681
    9 2 Momotarou Dentetsu DS: Tokyo & Japan Hudson DS 45,662
    10 13 Motto Nou o Kitaeru Otona DS Training Nintendo DS 44,047
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/07 @ 17:15

  • jebus #37 5 years ago

    Oh yeah and here is the hardware sales figures for Japan

    NDS: 285,192

    WII: 101,320

    PSP: 35,172

    PS2: 14,815

    PS3: 12,974

    360: 3,205

  • smelly #38 5 years ago

    Godfather = 8/10 in my eyes.

    if only because the "fps" style controls work better than ANY other console game i've played.

    (even if it does get slightly repetitive after a while)
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/07 @ 17:20

  • smelly #39 5 years ago

    So how long before we see a 360 owner posting a list of games?

  • Overlush #40 5 years ago

    So how long before smelly says "so how long before we see a 360 owner posting a list of games?"

    Oh.

  • Overlush #41 5 years ago

    @jebus

    There's over 120m people in Japan and thus far 2.3 million people have bought a Wii there - around a third of it's global sales thus far. By my reckoning that's under 2% of the population. Hardly the widespread cultural phenomenon that you might think it is. How many people in Japan own a TV or an MP3 player or a Mobile Phone? I think we need to put a little perspective on our (albeit more accepted and popular) 'hobby' is all. If you ask me, it's no more popular now than it was in the 80's but it IS a hobby that sticks with people for years so there's more people in the 30+ category now than there ever was.

    The point I'm trying to make is: Gaming is still somewhat of a niche market (in the grand scheme of things) and Japan is a surprisingly small (but culturaly significant) component of that market. Quoting the Wii's Japanese sales figures therefore is hardly a guarantee for it's continued sucess as a consumer electronics product on the global stage - particulalry when you look at it's portfolio.

    Sure, I get that the Wii will continue to sell well there due to it's price, size and party emphasis (all of which are very important to the eastern market) but I DO believe that unless we see a turnaround in the quality and quantity of games being released it will run out of steam on the global stage.

    Maybe I'm wrong. Who knows. Props ARE due to Nintendo for shifting 6.2 million units and making a profit on each one however. I just wonder who's REALLY going to be smiling when the dust settles...
    Edited by 2 at 11/05/07 @ 18:27

  • smelly #42 5 years ago

    Quality and quantity are just a matter of time.

    No-one expected the wii to do as well as it is. So devs are playing catch up.

  • smelly #43 5 years ago

    >Hardly the widespread cultural phenomenon that you might think it is.

    Its been out 6 months and is struggling to meet with demand.

    I'd say it was.

    Especially compared to the 360 out there.

  • All_the_girly_men #44 5 years ago

    ">Hardly the widespread cultural phenomenon that you might think it is.

    Its been out 6 months and is struggling to meet with demand.

    I'd say it was.

    Especially compared to the 360 out there. "

    Just a temporary glitch I'm sure of it.

  • Overlush #45 5 years ago

    A product being sold out doesn't automaticaly grant it 'cultural phenomenon' status, smelly. I could build a dozen chairs and be 'sold out' but it doesn't mean I'm about to take down IKEA, does it? Yeah, I know a dozen chairs and 6.2m Wiis is a strange analogy, but it serves it's purpose. We like to believe otherwise (and times ARE changing) but gaming IS still a relatively niche market and I'm not FULLY convinced that the Wii is breaking down quite so many barriers as you might think, in which case gaming lore still applies: starve a console of titles and then release average title after average title and you're asking for trouble.

  • LeD #46 5 years ago

    Picture a Wii, covered in buckets of shite.

  • Chtulie #47 5 years ago

    "How many people in Japan own a TV or an MP3 player or a Mobile Phone?"

    Mobile phone would be 1 to 1. One person owning one mobile phone.
    Mp3 player would be considerable lower, because that function is covered by the mobile phone.
    TV would be about 1 to 4.

    The Wii is not a personal device, but something to put in the living room to be used by the whole family. So I'd say it rates about the same as the Tv. So 2.3 million Wii's sold would be used by about 10 million people. Probably more since those who can't yet get one (there are still lines for the DS) will be using the ones of friends.

    It's safe to say that it's a phenomenon since it pushed past so easily the other digital entertainment things on the sales charts.

    You can't compare the ps2 where it is now with where the wii is now. Sure the ps2 has an install base several times larger, but the wii currently sells several times faster as the ps2 does now.

  • smelly #48 5 years ago

    meh.. who cares? :-)

    Really?

  • The-Bodybuilder #49 5 years ago

    /Sigh

    Hey atleast the godfather is pretty good, especially when you consider its not a "Normal" wii title (as in a party game, it's a 3rd person, mature action adventure).

  • Sid-Nice #50 5 years ago

    Picture a Wii, covered in buckets of shite.

    It would still outsell the Xbox 360 and PS3 in Japan.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/07 @ 00:43

  • The-Bodybuilder #51 5 years ago

    >"Hehe, where's the interwebs ultimate wiitard smelly at today? Usually he'd have appeared by now to tell us we are all 14 and wank too much"

    I'm sure he's here, lurking in the background ,watching....
    Then he'll strike, like the jaws-like fanboy he is.

    Edit: I see Im too late.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/07 @ 00:51

  • smelly #52 5 years ago

    >It would still outsell the Xbox 360 and PS3 in Japan.

    I personally think the ps3 is a temporary glitch.

    .. it'll sell shit loads soon enough.

    360 on the other hand... Mind you, that prolly accounts for all the worried 360 fankids posting in these forums like the above.. :-)

  • dirigiblebill #53 5 years ago

    I'm still waiting on some sort of coherent statistic as to who, precisely, buys a Wii. Is it selling to the gaming faithful, or all these celebrated 'non-gamers' we keep hearing about? Is it even in the same commercial ballpark as the ps3 and 360? Where's the overlap?

    All I know for certain is that it sure as hell isn't selling to me. Gamecube games + an under-utilised Wiimote do not a solid purchase make. IMO.

  • smelly #54 5 years ago

    well fuck off then. :-)

    Edited by 1 at 12/05/07 @ 04:59

  • jebus #55 5 years ago

    @Overlush


    There's over 120m people in Japan and thus etc etcI just wonder who's REALLY going to be smiling when the dust settles...





    A balanced view for a change - i.e not ranting even though I disagree :) The only point I was really trying to make - apart from the success of Nintendo both through hardware and software was that the Wii won't actually fail as was suggested by Damage. Sure it may come second ultimatley but it won't fail, especially when you look at the software sales (in Japan obviously)

    I know that you point out 2% of the population have bought a wii - it would probably be significantly higher if Nintendo could manage to sort their production out. Obviously MS and Sony don't have these problems yet still sell significantly less units.

    As regards who will be smilling when the dust settles, it depends on which market you look at I guess. In Japan itself the only guarantee is that Microsoft won't ever be smiling (unless they can get Sqaure to develop for them exclusivley)
    PS3 will probably start to sell shed loads when FF and/or MGS. My guess is Sony will end up with a smile but it will be a raging bull smile - all broken teeth and blood and Nintendo will still be smiling the same smile that they have now.
    Personally as it stands I know which comapany I'd rather be an executive at at this moment in time :)
    Edited by 3 at 12/05/07 @ 12:57

  • Aria #56 5 years ago

    Though not comparable to one another, I think Godfather is by far the best game on the console after Twiglight Princess.