Wii Play: Motion is the next game in Nintendo's casual line of titles. Like previous installments, Wii Play consists of a series of different Mini-Games that take advantage of the controller's unique and intuitive control scheme. Unlike previous installments, however, Wii Play: Motion is designed around the Wii's extra precise Motion Plus controller. Don't have a Motion Plus controller? That's all right, as the game comes bundled with one for added incentive to buy. But how does the bulk of the game itself stack up?
The Wii Play: Motion game consists of a dozen Mini-Games, but you only start out with four unlocked. As you play those four games, if you manage well enough on them to earn medals you'll unlock four new Mini-Games, and the cycle repeats itself for the remaining four Mini-Games. Within each Mini-Game is a collection of different modes and/or levels depending on the game. The games themselves range from okay to pretty shallow. With controls that are far from innovative; some are fun at first, but then get old after ten or so minutes.
One of the Mini-Games consisted of a Mii in a city park holding a giant ice cream cone. As the game proceeds, scoop after giant scoop of ice cream is loaded onto your cone. Your job is to keep it all balanced out so the cone can get as tall as possible. And when I say tall, I mean skyscraper tall. If you do good enough at balancing out your cone, a new mode is unlocked that shares the same basic structure as the original, except with a twist... Or should I say swirl. You see, this unlocked mode has you balancing a cone just like before, except this time it's a swirl cone instead of ice cream. This means you need to rotate your cone to create the perfect swirl as it's dispensed into your cone.
Another Mini-Game finds your Mii at a lake shore where, you guessed it, you're gonna skip stones. Which is great, if your idea of playing a video game is skipping stones. To be fair, it's not just skipping regular stones, but you also have special stones to skip. One stone I threw had a chicken design on it and as it skipped on the water it left feathers behind and clucked. Another stone, shaped like a dolphin, dipped in and out of the water just like it's real life counterpart. It's cute, it's charming, it's that special Nintendo touch. As amusing as it is though, if I want to skip stones, I'll just go outside and do it.
One of the more innovative games on the disc is a ghost hunting game that utilizes the Wii Motion Plus controller's built in speaker. You and your fellow Mii's are alone in a haunted mansion, with a vacuum cleaner-esque ghost catcher, à la Luigi's Mansion. The ghosts are somewhere off screen, so what you have to do is point the Wii Motion Plus controller all around your living room, following the tone of a radar. The closer you get to the ghoul the faster it'll beep. The moment you've found him you quickly push the A button to begin to suck him up, which is when a tug of war like struggle to contain the ghastly being ensues.
Without giving away what little there is, a few of the other mini-games range from a whack-a-mole rip off, to a rather clever down hill racing game where your Mii character has an umbrella and uses it to maneuver down this tricky course as he's being pulled down it by severe gusts of wind. I'll be honest, the umbrella racing is pretty neat, but like all the mini-games that are actually fun in Wii Play: Motion, it's short lived for one reason - There is virtually no computer to play against. If you're playing with a friend this isn't an issue, but for all the friendless people out there it becomes a concern. I mean, you can always play against yourself and try to beat your time/scores, but it would be more fun if some of the Mii's you see standing around watching you do all this stuff actually joined in.
As far as presentation goes, Wii Play: Motion is filled with Mii characters throughout. While Mii characters are charming, and are always good for a quick laugh when one is spotted in the background, they lend to the overall simplistic nature of the game as a whole. The sound is cheerful and fun, and the menus are easy to navigate. The controls work great, as you would expect from a Wii Motion Plus controller, it's just too bad there's not much substance to really put them to use.
In short, If you're planning on picking up a Wii Motion Plus Controller and think Wii Play: Motion might be a good way to snag a game alongside your purchase, think again. By all means, the controller is easily the best part of the package. Considering you can get a Wii Motion Plus controller for $30 dollars, that means this $50 dollar bundle puts the Wii Play: Motion game at a $20 dollar value that I just can't recommend. In my time with it, I had everything beat and unlocked within two hours. With absolutely no single player replay value, It's easy to see that Wii Play: Motion is just a tool, developed and bundled as an incentive to pick up a Wii Motion Plus controller and pass the time since there's really no engaging software out there supporting it until Skyward Sword hits. If you want your mini-game fix, stick to the more lovingly crafted Wii Party or Wii Sports: Resort.
Wii Play: Motion gets a 6 out of 10
1 comment:
aw, the ghost catching game sounds fun...
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