Nintendo Land
Check Nintendo Land out mate
Nintendo titles aimed at the family audience and I have not always seen eye to eye, with Wii Play and Wii Sports Resort gathering dust on my shelves as I await another visit from one of my several nephews. They are fun for an inexperienced gaming audience, but I crave a bit more depth and sophistication. These are not the terms I would use to describe Nintendo Land, but having played some of the mini games available in the collection; I do think it is a higher standard of experience. Especially as many of the games are co-op.
The two examples of co-op I played on Nintendo Land were both competitive co-op (of sorts). It was the WiiPad player versus the WiiMote players. One level is set in the world of Luigi’s Castle; each player is given a torch and must hunt out the Boo, played by the WiiPad holder, on a Pac Man style board. Only the WiiPad player can see the Boo on their mini screen and they are able to sneak up on the other players and knock them out. The gameplay was pretty frantic and nerve-wracking, for a team to succeed they needed to communicate. When someone’s pad started to rumble, it meant the Boo was near – tell everyone to get to your position.
Teamwork was also central to a level set in the world of Animal Crossing. Here the player with the WiiPad controls two guards, one for each thumbstick. The WiiMote players must work together to gather 50 pieces of candy without being caught, the more candy they carry the heavier and slower they become. Once again the gameplay was frantic as we were chased around the screen, to get the most candy you had to stick together.
From these two mini games alone, I was very impressed with Nintendo Land; it highlighted the different types of game you can play by using a WiiPad, without descending into gimmickry – another great advert for the platform.