[REVIEW] Nintendo Land

Mat Paget

(Wii U [REVIEWED])

It’s not uncommon for minigame collections to be written off almost immediately, especially during a console’s launch. They’re mostly seen as ways to make–or lose, in your case–a quick buck that showcases the features of a new console in rather uninteresting ways. You play them for an hour if it’s lucky, and then sweep it under the rug, never to be played again. This is where I want those thoughts to stop, because Nintendo Land is a fantastic game that doesn’t deserve to live in the bargain bins of your local department store.

Twelve minigames (or attractions) populate the Nintendo-themed amusement park, and the majority of them are absolute blasts to play. The twelve is divided into two; one half is designated for solo play only, while the other half is for either competitive or co-operative play between five people. It doesn’t end there: each minigame features at least a couple stages to keep things visually fresh. And the more people you have to play with, the more fun the experience becomes. This is especially true in games like Mario Chase, where one player must run away from four different players in true Benny Hill fashion for a period of two minutes.

The amount of players determining the amount of fun a group is going to have is also proven with Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, where four players must try to find a ghost, that is only fully visible on the GamePad, and shine their flashlights on him before it takes them all out. When you get down to it, it’s actually a really fun and simple stealth game that is best played with a full group of people. The idea alone that this is an actual bare-bones stealth game that has you up against real human opponents is fantastic.

And almost every other game delivers an awesome experience. The only two games that I really don’t enjoy are Takamaru’s Ninja Castle and The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest. There’s nothing wrong with the Castle of Ninja–I’m just not into it–, but the Zelda-themed minigame leaves something to be desired for those who aren’t using the GamePad — or the “cool controller” to all you kids. Players who use the Wii Remote will find that they’ll just be waggling around to take out the closer enemies, while the GamePad user will be using a bow to take out the harder-to-reach foes, as well as collecting hearts. It’s just not a very enjoyable experience for the majority of players.

One more thing on the minigames: Donkey Kong’s Crash Course is really fantastic. Seriously. This game could be its own standalone downloadable release, and I’d be more than happy paying for it. It has you tilt a contraption through a “crash course,” and you have to make sure said contraption makes it through alive. At times it’ll ask you to spin an analog stick, or even blow into the mic. And there’s something heartbreaking about seeing your contraption crash when you’re on a roll. It’s addicting, incredibly tough, and a really great solo attraction that this game has to offer.

Within all of the games, you’ll be able to collect coins to use in a mini-minigame called Coin Drop. Much like Plinko, you drop coins into a play area, trying to have them fall into a coloured slot. Once all the coloured slots have been passed by, you win a prize. These prizes are things that go in your park, which can include statues, music for the jukebox, or even a switch that changes the time of day. None of them really hold that much value, but dropping those coins is surprisingly fun.

There is no online multiplayer, but there are some online components to the game. Each Mii you see belongs to another person somewhere in the Miiverse. They’re not being controlled; they’re there to fill the park and give it the atmosphere of a place like Disneyland. Those players can post things to the Miiverse, which will then show up above the heads of their Miis inside the park. It’s really not that important to the gameplay, but it gives a nice feeling of not being the only one enjoying themselves; the majority of the messages are of joy, an unusual thing to see in a videogame with online users.

That pretty much sums up Nintendo Land — it’s quite unusual. Not unusual in a bad way, though. It was quite unusual to see so many happy and pleasant remarks coming from other players, it was quite unusual to see minigames with this amount of substance, and it was quite unusual to see the “test subjects” I played with enjoy themselves so much. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who will only play it by themselves; there are great solo experiences to be had, but you’d be missing out on a lot. It’s a great collection of games that anyone can have fun with, whether they regularly play videogames or not. If you’re looking to pick up something well worth your shiny new console’s time, then you probably don’t have to look any further.

Oh, and play Octopus Dance. Trust me.