Nintendo Land Review

Nintendo Land has been described as the Wii Sports for the Wii U.  Reason being if you purchase the Deluxe Edition of the Wii U it comes pre-packaged with this game, not to mention it's great multiplayer fun and one of the game's primary purposes is to showcase the different ways in which the Wii U Gamepad technology can be used. Nintendo Land is set in a beautiful, brightly colored theme park that you can walk around and explore and the best part is you don't even have to wait in line for any rides! You can see other Miis walking around as well, and if you enable MiiVerse you'll even bump into other Miis from your friends' systems and around the world.  But the core of this game isn't just walking around a theme park and going "ooh" at the pretty colors. Nintendo Land is a compilation of 12 mini-games each themed off a different Nintendo franchise. The games are divided into three categories: Single Player, Competitive, and Team. Your theme park "guide" is a computer monitor named Monita (clever, right?) and you will learn very quickly to dislike her. She's unnecessarily monotone, and most of her pointless explanations can't be skipped through. While walking around the theme park you can move the Gamepad in real space to move the camera as well. And while the game is presented very beautifully, showing off the various HD visuals and lighting effects of the Wii U hardware, Monita is just a fly in the well-presented soup. Instead of reviewing this game as one whole piece, I will evaluate each minigame individually and explain the functions, then score them each on a scale of 1 to 5.

Donkey Kong's Crash Course

(1 Player)  Rating: 5/5

Donkey Kong's Crash Course turns your Mii into a sort of Tinker Toy car and puts you on a giant (and I mean it's really daunting) obstacle course. The TV will show the entire course, while the Gamepad will have a zoomed in view of just the segment you're in. The controls start off very simple: while holding the Gamepad straight up and down (you're looking at the screen), tilt it left and right to make your car move in that direction and the more you tilt, the faster your car will go.  The catch is, if you tilt too much your car will go faster and crash into a wall,  panel, or other such obstacles. If your car lands on its head, or crashes into an obstacle, you lose a life.  As you progress through the course and pass various checkpoints the game starts throwing buttons into the mix. So in addition to tilting you now must press a button to raise or lower a ramp and move your car on to it. Overall it's a very fun and VERY challenging game that will have friends and family members competing for the highest score and see who can get the furthest.

F-Zero Captain Falcon's Twister Race

(1 Player)  Rating: 2/5

I hope this game isn't a representation of what future F-Zero games could be like on the Wii U because I'd be disappointed.  The TV view shows your Mii dressed as Captain Falcon, racing in their own high speed vehicle down a curving race track with hazards and obstacles. To play, you hold the Gamepad vertically, and you tilt it left and right to make the car steer.  You constantly move forward and by tilting you can follow the course and attempt to avoid tornadoes, rocks and other hazards. This game demonstrates how you can use the mini screen as a map, combined with motion controls to affect the on-screen gameplay without ever having to really look up at the TV. This game really didn't leave a big impression on me. Try it out, but I doubt you'll come back for more.

Luigi's Ghost Mansion

(Competitive, 2-5 Players)  Rating: 5/5

This is definitely one of the fan favorites of Nintendo Land and everyone always has a good time. The player using the Gamepad plays the role of a ghost, while the other 1-4 players will dress in a Mario/Luigi colored hat and wield a flashlight, trying to find the ghost. On the TV screen the ghost turns invisible and can't be seen by the other players while the Gameplad player can see everyone. As the ghost moves closer to a player their Wii remote starts vibrating to let them know the ghost is coming closer. First it's just a steady pulse, then it turns to quick tempo'd beats, and if the ghost is right on top of you, you're gonna wanna buy the Wii remote a drink for showing you a good time.  But seriously, if the ghost is about to catch you the goal is to tell the other players where you are on the map, and which color hat you're wearing, so the other players will know where to look.  If you (or another player) shines their flashlight on the ghost, its health will deplete and it will run off to hide again. If a player is caught, others can revive them by shining their flashlight on their fallen comrade, but this gives the ghost a perfect opportunity to sneak up as well. The ghost also has the ability to dash forward, temporarily revealing its location, but it is unaffected by light for that brief moment. Another advantage the ghost has, is with enough space between itself and the other players you can charge a magic attack that will reveal your location while charging, but when unleashed it places four swirling portals on the map, and if a player is caught in one their flashlight will be disabled, allowing the ghost to hunt them down easier. Frantic excitement with a variety of levels, communication between players, and one of the first games to truly offer a different experience for the person on the Gamepad.

Takamaru's Ninja Castle

(1 Player)  Rating: 3/5

This one caught my attention from the first time I saw it, but I was minorly disappointed. You hold the Gamepad flat, and vertically (long-ways) and a shuriken (throwing star) appears on the touch screen.  By aiming the Gamepad at the TV you'll move a cursor around and with a swipe of your finger or the stylus you can flick ninja stars at various moving targets.  One style of play is just rapidly keep swiping to spew shurikens all over the screen, guaranteeing to hit your targets, but if you want to achieve a high score, the goal is accuracy. Hitting successful, sequential targets without missing will continue to multiply your score, as well as not missing targets. Overall pretty fun, but it only has three levels, and it's fairly boring for other people to watch someone play through it.

Octopus Dance

(1 Player)  Rating: 3/5

Octopus Dance is based off the Game and Watch series of games, in particular the Diver game.  The objective in this game is to make your Mii mimic the movements of the instructor in a Simon-esque rhythm game. Moving both control sticks up or down on the Gamepad will move your Mii's arms that direction, as well as pushing them out to the side. Tilting the Gamepad left or right will cause your Mii to lean, and a slight pop with the Gamepad will make your character jump. The Gamepad's view starts as behind the back of your Mii and the instructor, while the TV shows the front display. By looking at the behind view, you can easily mimic the motions. If they stick their left arm out, you would move the left stick.  If you're looking at the front view however, you have to reverse it (i.e. move the right stick in the above example) so the goal is to always watch whichever screen has the back view. Each round is 10 individual sets of three moves, and they increase in tempo after the first two or three sets, and occasionally the instructor will spin your character around. This game is actually fairly difficult but fun to try and master.

Pikmin Adventure

(Team, 1-5 Players)  Rating: 3/5

In the Pikmin Adventure attraction, the Gamepad player will dress as Captain Olimar and command a small platoon of Pikmin. All Wii remote players will be dressed as giant Pikmin of varying color. In Challenge Mode, all players will progress through levels, the Pikmin players will bash their head on blocks and also attack enemies to clear an area, and the Olimar player will do the same but using the Gamepad to coordinate his small army's attacks. The goal is to work as a team to clear out all enemies, break open blocks and explore each section to its fullest. One power that Olimar has is blowing his whistle which will call his Pikmin--including the human players--back to him. He can use this ability to then throw players at enemies with more precision, however this can also cause some feuding among team members because in order to level up, characters must collect nectar dropped by enemies and item boxes. Pikmin player defeats an enemy, goes to collect nectar, but is called away by Olimar while he grabs it for himself. What a dick. Basically you just keep repeating this process of defeating enemies and collecting nectar to level up until you get to the end of the level.  In my opinion, it was pretty fun the first time I played, but quite lackluster later on.  In Versus mode, it's just Pikmin team vs. Olimar trying to collect the most candy. You can strategically attack each other and throw items to make them drop some of their candy.  It's an okay attraction, but not fantastic.

Yoshi's Fruit Cart

(1 Player)   Rating: 5/5

Yoshi's Fruit Cart utilizes the Gamepad in one of the most unique ways in this entire game. The goal seems simple: draw a line on the touch screen from your Yoshi Cart to the exit, and make sure your line passes through any fruit on the way so Yoshi can eat it before reaching the end.  Seems easy enough, right? The catch is the fruit you need to collect is only visible on the TV screen and not the Gamepad. This game requires some careful concentration and studying of both screens, making note of patterns in the stage's background as slight hints to where your line should go. In later levels you will also have to avoid pitfalls and other obstacles which also will not be visible on the Gamepad, thus increasing the difficulty. As you proceed through certain levels you may receive a check mark item to place which will be visible on both screens, further improving your chances of success. This is an extremely addicting game that has way more depth to it than I initially thought. If you want to wuss out and need help,  you can have someone use a Wii remote to point at the screen and collect any fruit you miss, so that your only goal is getting to the end safely. Stop sucking, and do your own dirty work!

Balloon Trip Breeze

(1 Player)   Rating: 2/5

This attraction is based off the NES classic game Balloon Fight, putting your Mii in the role of the Balloon Fighter.  With a helmet and two balloons strapped to your back this game lets you experience floating through the air on a scrolling level while avoiding hazards. The action takes place on the TV with a full view of the area and all the hazards.  On the Gamepad, you have a zoomed in view of your characters immediate vicinity and by swiping the stylus or your finger you make gusts of wind to help your Mii float safely through the air.  Longer swipes result in stronger gusts and you control what direction you want your Mii to go.  You can also use the stylus to tap harmful blocks and enemies to get rid of them. The main goal of this game is to look at the TV while just using the Gamepad as a controller, but every now and then you will need to glance at the mini-screen to deal with problems. I will happily state that I personally did not find this game very enjoyable, thus the low rating, however I would also like to point out that I've talked to other people who love it. Try it out for yourself, maybe it's just because I suck at it so bad...who knows?

Mario Chase

(Competitive, 2-5 Players)   Rating: 5/5

Mario Chase is another one of the popular attractions of Nintendo Land. The Gamepad player is dressed as Mario, while the remaining players become Toads (the mushrooms, not the amphibians.)  The Mario player gets a 10 second head start to go out in the map somewhere and run away from the remaining players, who will then begin to chase Mario using the Wii remotes, thus the name of the game. The 2-4 Toad players will have a third-person, over-the-shoulder view of their character and have to physically look around their environment to try and spot Mario in one of four colored zones but the Gamepad player will not only have the same third-person view of their own character, but also a top down map of the entire arena, showing the locations and movements of all players. If the Toads catch Mario, their team wins but if Mario can avoid the other players for two and a half minutes, the Gamepad player wins. There are three different levels, each with varying size and some sort of niche to add strategy. It's really fun to see the Toad players working together constantly yelling which colored zone they're in and where they see Mario headed. Communication and strategy is key to winning this!

Animal Crossing Sweet Day

(Competitive, 2-5 Players)   Rating: 5/5

Yet another game that truly gives the Gamepad player a different experience. almost the opposite of Mario Chase, the Wii remote players are dressed as animals who want to wolf down all the candy in the village and between them they must collect a set amount.  The trick is, the more candy a player is storing, the slower they run so the animals have to spit up some candy to lighten the load, all the while they are being chased by two patrolling watchdogs controlled by the Gamepad player. The Gamepad player will have their own screen, showing their two characters up close and will control each one independently using the two control sticks. Left control stick moves the left guard, left trigger is his tackle and the same controls apply for the right guard. At first if you're controlling the guards the view is focused on the two of them so your vision is limited, making it easier for the other players to snatch candy but if you move your two characters further apart, you get a zoomed out view and can coordinate your attacks.  Catch three animals for the guards to win, or collect the set number of candy for the animals to win.  This game is hilarious to watch as everyone frantically scrambles for candy then starts spitting it up to run away from the chasers. It really requires teamwork and communication for the animals, and the Gamepad player has to be good with strategy and coordination. Probably my personal favorite in all of Nintendo Land.

Metroid Blast

(Team 1-5 Players)   Rating: 4/5

If there is one thing Monita says in this game that's true and worth hearing, it is that Metroid Blast is the attraction most geared towards hardcore gamers. It's also the only attraction in Nintendo Land that requires the use of a nunchuck, so keep that in mind before deciding which games to play.  Metroid Blast puts the Gamepad player in control of Samus Aran's starship, using the Gamepad's control sticks, motion control,   and just about every button on the controller.  I'll admit the controls for the gunship take a little getting used to, but once you do its pretty overpowered. Other players will use the Wii remote and nunchuck to take on the role of Samus and battle on foot. The Samus players can shoot, strafe, grapple, quick dodge, and turn into a morph ball. You move around with the nunchuck and aim at the screen with the remote. Metroid Blast has three modes available to take advantage of these unique controls. Assault Mode, where the ship player and the ground players work together to fight off hordes of enemies that come in waves. Surface to Air Mode pits the gunship player AGAINST the ground players in a sort of team battle.  The gunship has the advantage of always easily finding the other players, but this player is advantaged by there being more of the ground players. Lastly, Ground Combat is...well, you guessed it. Up to four players duke it out on foot in good old-fashioned third-person shooter style. This attraction is pretty fun, but the gunship player IS pretty overpowered but it's definitely a good time when you team up for Assault Mode, as each level and wave of enemies gets tougher.

Legend of Zelda Battle Quest

(Team 1-5 Players)   Rating 5/5

Last but certainly not least, we have the attraction set in the land of Hyrule. Also one of the most popular games available in this collection, Battle Quest is the mini-game that actually surprised me.  Up to three Wii remote players take on the role of swordsmen, and the Gamepad player becomes an archer.  Battle Quest is an on-rails shooter, meaning the characters will move forward on their own only stopping to fight enemies. If you've played Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, then you'll be familiar with the swordsmen controls. You can make sword slashes in real space, vertically, horizontally, and diagonally including both directions (i.e. down to up, or up to down) as well as a spin attack if you hold your sword horizontally or vertically and let it charge up. The first basic enemies you encounter can easily be taken out with a few sword swings but eventually enemies get tougher requiring you to slash at specific angles.  The archer aims using a combination of the left stick and moving the Gamepad around to find targets and fires by flicking the right stick any direction.  If the stick is held, you can charge an arrow for a stronger attack. This is useful for destroying enemy shields and taking out multiple enemies. This game requires significant teamwork because the swordsmen are always on the front line moving forward while the archer usually hangs back a few feet and every now and then there will be high up enemy archers or flying creatures that the swordsmen can't attack, so it's up to the archer to protect their team. Conversely the swordsmen are responsible for making sure enemies don't get past them to harm the archer because the archer's defenses are weak.  And adding to the factor of teamwork, all the players share a health bar. Then when someone does take any damage, the screen displays who screwed up, so you can be sure to heckle the right person. This game has a lot more depth than I gave it credit for and it's really fun.

There you have it folks, The Wii U's flagship game to demonstrate the system's capabilities. It's a load of fun and it's sure to get a lot of laughs from your friends.  Which of the mini-games is your favorite? Which franchises should've been added? Make sure to Contact me with your thoughts and comments!