
	Platform Wii Genre Party Game Publisher Nintendo Developer Nintendo ESRB E (Everyone) Released February 2007

- Comes with a Wiimote! - Some of these games are actually fun - Should appeal to the younger set

- Not so much a full fledged game as a pack-in game included with a Wiimote - There are only three or four games that will appeal to players over the age of 12

Review: WarioWare Smooth Moves (Wii) Review: Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii) Review: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
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Wii Play

Score: 6.0 / 10

When the Wii launched, Mr. Nash and I had a quick decision-making telephone call that went along these lines:

“Wii Sports isn’t much a game, is it? Just some tech demos and little else,” I said. “And it’s free with the console, so there’s not much point in writing a review, is there? Everyone’s getting it.”

“Yep,” said Mr. Nash.

And that is why we never reviewed Wii Sports. Now along comes Wii Play with a “staggering” selection of nine mini-games that tread too close to tech demo territory to really qualify as a full-fledged game. Yes, about half of the mini-games can be a lot of fun, especially when played with a partner, but there’s not enough substance here to warrant a purchase.

However – and this is very important – Wii Play comes packed with a Wiimote, which are next to impossible to find anywhere. When you look at it that way, you’re paying $40US for a Wiimote and $10US for a second batch of mini-games

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that shows off snippets of the console’s potential.

If a Sega executive is reading this, make House of the Dead happen. Make it happen now. As if WarioWare Smooth Moves’ shooting mini-game wasn’t enough to convince you, the opening Duck Hunt-esque mini-game of Wii Play should be enough; an arcade shooter needs to be

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produced for this console immediately. But besides action and reflexes – both combined in the half-hearted ping pong mini-game – Wii Play also features pool. But even that falls short of a full fledged game.

The other mini-games task you with finding Miis in a crowd, rotating Mii characters to fit inside bubbles, Fishing, Charge! – ride a cow to knock over scarecrows – and Tanks!, which should be self-explanatory.

Are any of these mini-games fun? Yes and no. Wii Sports succeeds at presenting four very solid tech demos in the guise of baseball, boxing, bowling, and tennis. Wii Play has approximately two tech demos (out of nine) I’d label as solid, however, this seems to be somewhat reliant on your age. While I was definitely enthusiastic about shooting things in the Shooting Range and Laser Hockey, my kids couldn’t get enough of Mii Matching.

If it were a standalone game, I’d recommend forgetting Wii Play, but it comes with a Wiimote, so really the game is $10US so it’s really hard to argue against picking it up. (Those marketing geniuses at Nintendo have scored again!)

- Omni

(March 1, 2007)