'Wii Play' lacks fun, depth of 'Wii Sports'

news via indystar

Families who have been cutting their gaming teeth on "Wii Sports" will be a little disappointed with "Wii Play," Nintendo's newest collection of easy-to-learn minigames.

While the "Wii Play" games will turn the Wii controller into a fishing rod that you pull up on to hook fish or a pool cue to smack balls on a virtual billiards table, the nine games just aren't as much fun to play as those found in "Wii Sports," and they lack depth. Touted as a follow-up title to "Wii Sports," "Wii Play" also misses the boat for group play by limiting the multiplayer option to two people instead of four.

However, like "Wii Sports," "Wii Play" does offer easy entree into playing video games and encourages those new to video gaming to give it a try. And for families who haven't bought enough controllers, "Wii Play" comes packaged with one at a reasonable price.

"Wii Play" offers nine games in either single- or two-player mode. By playing the games in order, you unlock them. The first is "Shooting Range," a game of point-and-shoot target practice involving balloons, clay pigeons, soda cans and UFOs. Four of the games are adaptations of common activities: table tennis, fishing, billiards and air hockey. Two others involve matching Miis (Miis are on-screen characters generated by the game and that you create to represent you). In "Find Mii," you scan other Miis' faces to match pairs or triplets. With "Pose Mii," you twist the Wii controller to make your Mii match the position of the silhouette floating in a bubble. A cow-racing game and a strategy game called "Tanks!" round out the selections.

Our kid testers, avid fans of "Wii Sports," excitedly put the "Wii Play" game through its paces. The Wii controller turned out to be a responsive paddle to send the puck flying across the "Laser Hockey" table. When turned on its side, the controller was an effective way to control the cow that was racing down the road in the game called "Charge!" Tilt the controller forward and the cow goes faster, yank the controller up rapidly and the bovine jumps over obstacles. Tilt it left or right, and the cow veers in that direction. Testers had some trouble with the billiards game, because the controls were sometimes nonresponsive. The "Find Mii" game reminded them of hunting for people in the "Where's Waldo" books.

Our testers enjoyed the novelty of exploring all nine games, but they would rather play "Wii Sports" because those games have more depth and provide endless game play. When playing a tennis game in "Wii Sports," the game is always fresh because it depends on your finesse to add topspin or a slice to the ball. With "Wii Play," the similar game of table tennis is lackluster because you simply place your paddle to hit the ball back (as in the arcade game "Pong") and you can't add spins or fancy serves to keep the game interesting. The "Wii Play" games got old quickly.

Here's the bottom line: "Wii Play" costs $50 and comes with a Wii controller. That additional controller is worth $40 so the cost of "Wii Play" is really only $10. If your family could use another controller, this collection of games will provide some short-term entertainment.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Best for ages 6 and up

From Nintendo, www.nintendo.com, $50, Nintendo Wii.

give feedback via comment

I love Wii Play. Actually, I enjoy it more, and indeed have played it much more, than Wii Sports. So I disagree with this article.