What a WiiWare Waste
I’ve picked up two WiiWare games in the last week. Both are interesting. Neither are worth the money in the end.
The first game is Pop. It’s a simple game. The screen fills up with four different colored bubbles, and you have to point and shoot them down. Stick to one color, string ‘em along, don’t miss, and your score climbs. Special bubbles cost you points or pop nearby bubbles. The last trick is that you have a time limit. Each bubble you pop adds on to the time, so there is a certain speed element.
It’s fun for the first minute. As the game stretches on five and six minutes and my eyes start to burn from staring at the TV screen without looking away for so long, I get itchy. Then, I get bored. The game has a couple different variations including one in which you just pop bubbles for the heck of it. No points, no time limits, no rewards. I guess it’s the Wii version of bubble wrap.
It’s nice to look at for thirty seconds, but will lose its luster in less than 15 minutes. Not a good way to blow $7.
Star Soldier R, on the other hand, lasts longer than 15 minutes. You might get a good solid 30 minutes out of this one. It’s part Galaga, part — well, it’s like Galaga. The screen scrolls. You’re a ship. Blast everything up efficiently. There are two levels — one is a two minute game. The other lasts five minutes. You compete for the high score, and can compare your score on-line with other people in your neck of the woods.
It’s a very pretty game, but pretty redundant, too. It’s the same level over and over and over again. You can fine-tune your strategies to get better at that level, but that’s about it. And this one is $8.
I have $5 worth of Wii points left. I think I’ll buy a classic NES game via the on-line store and get a lot more gameplay for my dollars.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Check out the latest episode of The Totally Rad Show. They reviewed a couple of cool inexpensive Wii games. Cannot remember the names of them right now off of the top of my head.
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Thanks, I’ll look ‘em up. There is Deca Sports, which is only $30. That shows promise. Plus, CURLING for the Wii!
May 24th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I have two Wiiware games: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King and Defend Your Castle.
My Life As A King is a addictive kingdom simulation game, basically Final Fantasy Meets Sim City. You are the king and you build up your kingdom by placing houses, shops, sending out adventures, etc. Great game, imo. Lots of gameplay value (even has a new game+ and hard & very hard modes).
As for Defend Your Castle, if you have 500, well, DYC is well worth it imo. It is also very addictive. It looks VERY simple: the cardboard cutout castle and the stick figures attacking it! The game is also available online for free, but, imo, the Wiiware verison is so much better. The Wiiware verison has better controls via the Wii-mote, plus weather effects & day & night. Basically, in the game, you Defend Your Castle, by picking up stick figures and throwing them, plus your archers attack them, you have magic (an eraser), etc. Seems very simple and easy at first, but as you keep going it gets harder and harder and harder.
Best part: Infinite levels! This game never ends! I’m on Round 31 now. :)
One of the best 500 points I’ve spent.
I’m very happy with MLAAK and DYC.
Upcoming Wiiware that looks aweosme (imo): Dr. Mario and Toki Tori.
Toki Tori is an action puzzle game where you lead this chicken character through mazes to collect his sibling eggs. Its supposed to have over 70 levels, message board support, 2-player support, etc.
Oh and I’ve heard that LostWind is a good game, but very short.
I also think TV Show King looks neat. A triva game that uses the Miis.
So, they are definitly some cool Wiiware games out & some cool ones coming out (oh, almost forgot, Tetris is another one coming).
DF2506
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
WiiWare opens up another door for game developers to create more interesting Wii games for us. Star Soldier R is one of the masterpiece. Graphic is fantastic! The only thing is that the length of the game is too short.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I’ve been meaning to update this post — I’ve become insanely addicted to this game this week. I don’t know why, but I keep trying to increase my score. It’s ridiculous.