The Wii continues to bring the good grin fun times. Not only am I trading Miis with my friend Mark, but I'm enjoying the hell out of some Zelda. Here are remarks on some of the other launch titles that I've played/got my hands on:
Rayman Raving Rabbids: Believe the reviews. This is NOT a Rayman game. It is a collection of mini-games -- which range from so-so to fun -- starring bizarre rabbit creatures. The rabbits themselves are hilarious: half-homicidal/half-retarded fuzzballs with great animations and SFX. Haven't played much of the game, but it's frustrating that you must unlock the mini-games in single-player before you can play them in multi-player. (Not good for parties!) The mini-games themselves use the Wii controls to varying degrees of success. Coolest by far are the on-rails "plunger shooting" levels, which combine the best aspects of the game (funny characters with pick-up-and-play game design) for smiles galore. Raving Rabbids is fast food, albeit high quality fast food. Nice to look at, fun to play, a good showcase for the Wii...ultimately forgettable.
Excite Truck: TOTALLY fun. The driving is a cartoony, physics-bending experience, which makes the decision to depict the trucks realistically all the more bizarre. But whatever. Go wild with insane jumps, tricks and turns. The controls take a bit of getting used to, but work great. Be warned: this game is HARD. Like, even the early levels are tough. Much better in multiplayer, where the odds are smoothed out. Here is an awesome design decision: the truck that comes in first doesn't always win the race. Players collect stars as they go through the track, by performing tricks, good jumps, etc. Granted, you get a lot of stars for coming in first, but if you can accumulate more by racing well, you can still win. Makes for a real challenge that balances skill with speed.
Trauma Center Second Opinion: I did not play this game on the DS, but I can see how it would work perfectly with that platform. It also works great on the Wii. This is a hospital/surgery sim with a soap opera storyline. The oh-so Japanese narrative hysterics are bad to the point of entertaining. As for gameplay, you will be surprised how quickly you can get into it. The game is really just an exercise in muscle memory and sequence memorization; the surgery theme is only a motif. (The gameplay mechanic could easily work with cooking, or construction, or manufacturing radioactive isotopes, whatever.) The fun comes in when you have to remember complicated sequences while working against the clock (stressful!), all while using the Wii remote to slice, move, suture, etc. Our group was entertained for hours. But I wouldn't buy this game. Note: the graphics are poor.
DBZ Tenkaichi 2: Wow. This game is good. It feels like you are playing a DBZ episode. The graphics are solid and the character selection (over 100 characters) is insane. If you're a DBZ fan, you will LOVE this. The Wii controls are a bit wonky, and I assume this is a result of multi-platform development. (You can also play the game with the retro controller.) I've played previous DBZ fighting games, most of which were mediocre to decent, but this one really captures the kinetic vibe of the show. I may just pick this one up.
Well, back to Zelda. And Red Steel. (I still stand by my assertion that this game is not as bad as everyone claims it is. Grab a bargain copy when you can. I hear a sequel is on the way.) Oh, and let's not forget Wii Sports -- make sure you try the training mode in bowling! You can try to knock down 100 pins at once!
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