Nintendo Wii

Review: GSN Presents Family Game Show

KevinLeeC — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:27:36 -0400

Game Show Network presents Family Game Show from Storm City Games is what you might get if Wink Martindale, Alex Trebek, Richard Dawson and Bob Barker became game designers. From the relentlessly cheerful (and occasionally condescending) hosts to the uptempo music and the studio audience, Family Game Show is a pretty decent simulator of the game show experience.

Within the game, players can participate in one of three different shows. Control Freak with Larry Lightfoot is a quiz show/strategy game in which players try to retain control of the board by answering trivia questions. Alternatively, players can force their opponent to answer a question that seems too difficult. The questions are multiple choice and timed, so the game comes off as a multi-player variation on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Control Freak (like all of the games in Family Game Show can be played by up to four players using four Wii remotes or sharing a single remote. Setup includes the option to have the game consider the players’ ages when selecting questions. This helps to even out the play between adults and children. On the downside, the host is frequently rude to players when they miss questions. Younger players might be upset by his comments and older players are likely to be insulted.

The final round is a modified “sudden death” round which gives the leading player a chance to take the game or lose it. This is a consistent design feature of all of the game shows and (like their real-life counterparts) makes the first rounds feel a little pointless.

p>If trivia isn’t your bag, you can play Puzzle Addict with Tom Wordsworth. This “show” is built around a crossword puzzle interspersed with other puzzle-style games like word search, sudoku and a type of word jumble. Between rounds of the crossword, players alternate playing the puzzle mini-games. Watching someone else unscramble mixed-up words or hunting through a word search doesn’t make for a compelling game experience.

For the Mensa set, Family Game Show offers up Brain Strain with Professor Plank. This game offers the largest selection of mini-games (15), all based on logic and problem-solving. If offers the same in-the-studio experience as the other games, but the variety of mini-games makes it a little more interesting.

The graphics and audio are adequate to the task of conveying a game show “feel” and other than the occasional snarky comments from the hosts, there’s nothing particularly objectionable in the game content. Nor is there anything especially compelling. Hardcore game show fanatics might enjoy the opportunity to play never-before-seen games, but casual players are likely to find the games slow and only marginally interesting.

Review: All-Star Cheer Squad 2 vs. We Cheer 2 for Wii

Dale — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:51:34 -0400

2! 4! 6! 8! Which of these games do we think is great?

Cheerleading games are a natural fit for the Wii, and since they all follow roughly the same control scheme (Are you picturing it before I even describe it?), which rises to the top of the human pyramid? We pit THQ's All Star Cheer Squad 2 against Bandai Namco's We Cheer 2 for a virtual cheer-off.

Ready? O! K!

We Cheer 2 (WC2) keeps control simple. Using only the Wiimote, players follow on screen arrows to mimic the movements like a 1-armed Dance Dance Revolution. All-Star Cheer Squad 2 (ASCS2) steps it up literally with more control combinations, incorporating the Nunchuck, and additional Wiimote, and/or the Balance Board. These additional control options will already entice many players for the more realistic experience.

Both games let you create your own character with many options for character face, costume designs, colors, and more. WC2 offers squad-wide options for its animé-esque models, plus players can spend points for special additional accessories and options. ASCS2 offers a much more detailed (and realistic) character creation system, down to face shape and eye color. ASCS2 also includes a Routine Designer, allowing players to create a custom routine with a music mixer for an accompanying custom soundtrack. While WC2 doesn't offer these customization options, it includes abridged versions of 30 popular songs by artists like Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne.

In all, just looking at the list of features, ASCS2 easily rises to the top as the clear winner, yet my 8-year-old daughter loves WC2 and prefers not to play ASCS2 at all. Why? Because while she loves the Routine Designer of ASCS2, WC2 is easier to play. She's 8. She loves WC2, because she can just pick it up and play. It's not too difficult, and she's not overwhelmed by details. She assured me, though, that in a few years, she'll prefer ASCS2, but she's just not ready for it yet. Ironically, WC2 is rated E10+, but ASCS2 is rated E.

So as a dad, I prefer ASCS2, but this game was not designed for me, unless I want to get it out to embarrass my teenage daughter when her friends are over. These games were designed for your kids (and yes, both allow you to play as a boy), so you know your kids, and I hope this description will help you choose the best match. Both are very good games, and I recommend that you buy one, not both, but once again, this is why we don't generally use a numbering system here at Tech Talk for Families—because your kids aren't numbers.

Review: AMBL: Alien Monster Bowling League for Wii

Dale — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:26:45 -0500

Throw Bowling from Wii Sports, Mario Kart-style weapons, and a handful of aliens and monsters into a blender, and you get...No! WAIT! NOT LITERALLY! STOP! OH, THE HUMANITY!!!

Anyway, back to the game. Alien Monster Bowling League is actually exactly what you'd expect from the title. With what must be deliberateely the most campy storyline ever conceived, light and darkness in the universe must be kept in the balance while saving the earth from a world-devouring machine via a tournament of bowling! I know what you're thinking, and yes, I think it was deliberately intended to sound like a B-movie, given the characters included.

In campaign mode, you take on the persona of a choice of four human characters, trying to save the earth. Play first against the other humans, then against five monsters (zombie, cyclops, werewolf, Dracula, and yeti), then against a handful of aliens. Characters each have their own personalities and comic gestures (Werewolf is a British gentleman, and Yeti speaks only in '80's song titles, while one of the aliens has a Cajun accent). As players progress, the bowling lanes add new challenges (like a Ski Ball-like lane or swinging pedulums) inspired by miniature golf courses. Power-ups appear, allowing players both to improve their own balls, like one that splits in half to catch a split or a ghost ball that allows players to stop the ball and aim, or attack the opponent by twisting the screen perspective, shaking the lane with an earthquake, or zapping the ball out of existence. Players can also save energy to use a super ball, which causes an automatic strike or spare, as applicable.

Players can choose from three difficuly levels, which made very little difference from what I could tell, and a choice between standard and battle mode. Standard allows players to take turns like a normal game, but in Battle Mode, players race through the game to rack up the most points the fastest, which will add some serious challenge for those who master the standard game.

Players who lose a game in campaign mode get a chance to save themselves via a turkey shoot, using the Wiimotes to point and shoot. Sadly, this mode does not become available in multiplayer mode, but players can play as the turkey in Multiplayer mode, which we'll return to.

Besides the controls you'd expect, like swinging the Wiimote to roll the ball, the game also offers a "Couch Potato Mode" using the nunchuk, Players will also need to hone their shooting skills, since pins left wobbling can be shot down with a few well-placed hits during the "Tilt."

Players can play through the campaign mode in an afternoon, but in doing so, they unlock all the monsters and aliens as playable characters for the 2-player multiplayer mode. Since the difficulty levels have little effect on the game, we found setting the younger kids to easy and adults to hard didn't really help, but they considered it fun anyway. A 4-6 player alternating mode or online play would have been nice, but this is a budget title.

A few of the characters wear outfits that leave little to the imagination, but overall, this is a family-friendly game.

Intuitive controls, innovative characters and environments, and unique elements make this title worth buying if you enjoy bowling. The campaign's difficulty level will keep young kids without a good sense of timing from succeeding, but an older or more experienced family member can unlock those levels to allow custom choosing of characters and environments to match the child's skill level. Grab a spare and enjoy.

Review: Sky Crawlers - Innocent Aces for the Nintendo Wii

zach — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:23:41 -0500

Sky Crawlers - Innocent Aces is a pretty game. And parts of the music make me wish I had a better sound system at home to play it on. But some clunky design choices outside of the actual gameplay prevent me from giving it an enthusiastic recommendation.

Sky Crawlers is based on an anime movie that I saw last year, which is in turn based on a series of books which did pretty well in Japan, despite their being released in reverse chronological order. Confused? Don't worry about it. Yes, the world is at peace. Except for the staged wars put on by corporations apparently so that people can have something to talk about in the newspaper. Your job as a pilot is to shoot down the enemy in this ongoing conflict. And their job is to shoot you down. See? Classic plot. Oh, and there may or may not be clones.

Now that the plot is out of the way (? Y'know, every now and then a particularly incomprehensible property comes out of the anime industry, and I've found that it's much easier just to go with it), let's talk about gameplay. The normal controls have you holding the nunchuck in your right hand, and the Wiimote in your left. The nunchuck is then handled like the stick in an airplane, and the Wiimote becomes your throttle. Tilt the nunchuck to turn, climb and dive. Tilt the Wiimote up to go faster, down to go slower. It actually works pretty well once you're used to having a Wiimote in your left hand. Combat is interesting. You fly around shooting the other guys, and that's pretty straightforward in a WWII Prop-planes No Missiles game, as this has been so far. But the game also rewards you for style. If you can fly your plane close to your intended target, a meter starts rising. Once you've got it to level 1, you can hit a button, and the game takes over, performs a bunch of fancy maneuvers, and deposits you directly behind the target. Pull trigger. Boom. Next target. There are occasional bombing missions, I had a recon mission that became an escort mission (flying something that handled like an ice cream truck), so there's an interesting mix of mission types. Even if you have no idea what the heck is going on outside the cockpit. You also have the option of playing with the Wii Classic Controller or a Nintendo GameCube controller. (Oh, my beloved Wavebird. Come fly with me!) On second thought... I like the normal control structure better. Which is odd, because usually with this sort of thing I am All About The Wavebird.

I've enjoyed the gameplay. However, the menu system is clunky. Whenever you select that you want to continue the campaign, you're presented with an option to go back to the tutorial. This is after having been through the tutorial already. And after having flown missions. Lots of missions. It's a minor annoyance, but it's one that irked me, so it's worth mentioning.

Also, some plot elements take place in conversation while you're dogfighting, and it can be a little distracting to try picking up on what everyone's talking about (Kildren? Wha?) while you're in the middle of making sure you don't get your plane perforated.

Now, some people might play this game, and have their curiosity piqued about the anime film. I've seen it, and the film was pretty, but slow, and sort of depressing. But the game is not the movie, despite the fully animated cutscenes. The game is a halfway decent combat flight sim, aside from the clunky and annoying menu structure. I think it also suffers from a lack of true multiplayer. The box indicates that 2 Wiimotes can be used, but it's basically like the multiplayer in Super Mario Galaxy - You can point your Wiimote at the screen and fire at things as though you were a secondary gunner aboard the fighter plane.

So, who would enjoy this? WWII sim lovers who don't mind an impenetrable plot. Anime fans who don't mind a clunky menu system. And flight sim players in general. If you don't mind the issues I've mentioned above, and the lack of multiplayer, maybe this game could find its way Sky Crawling into your collection.

Buy The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces from Amazon!

Review: Guitar Hero: Van Halen

zach — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:53:30 -0500

What can I say about Guitar Hero: Van Halen? Hmmmm... Well, we didn't know we'd gotten a copy until we'd come back from visiting family over the holidays? Ummmm... it's Guitar Hero?

Tell you what - go read my review of Guitar Hero 5. Now pretend that I said all that stuff about a game that featured a lot of Van Halen songs, and skip the parts about DLC and the DS. Yay! Review done! Because this is basically a Van Halen-heavy track pack. So what do we have to talk about? The songs and their lyrics!

Okay, there are a few extra things to talk about. The character customization is pretty good. You play as Van Halen on their songs, and as your band for anything done by anyone else. HOWEVER: Van Halen's members do not change over the course of the game. Rather, you play as the band as it is currently constituted, and as they currently dress. That means David Lee Roth (vocals), Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Wolfgang Van Halen (bass), and Alex Van Halen (drums). Everyone's pretty much in shirts and jeans until the final venue, when they take everyone back to the eighties with the giant hair and the (joy?) spandex.

Also, there are NO songs on the game from the Sammy Hagar period. So if you're a fan of, say, "Why Can't This Be Love", "Dreams", or "Runaround", then sorry, pals. You're out of luck. On the plus side, however, you get Everybody Wants Some, and Unchained, so it's not like I was going to break the disc in a fit of rage at the lack of the Red Rocker.

Below is a list of all the songs in this release, and a rating on their lyrics. Note: the lyrics in the actual game are edited, so you can run the kids through Master Exploder by Tenacious D without adding to their vocabulary. However, if your kids are anything like mine, they've recently discovered that you can find these songs on YouTube and other sites. And those aren't edited.

So, as with the Great Guitar Hero 5 Lyrics Review, understand that this is highly subjective, that what I find offensive and what you find offensive may be very different, etc. (For instance, I'm open to an argument that puts the lyrics to Judas Priest's Painkiller at a 1) Songs are rated 1-5, with a 1 meaning I could play it around my mother-in-law, and a 5 meaning I'm wincing as I'm reaching for the fast forward button. But if you have any questions about any of these, look up the lyrics yourself. A search for the band name, song name, and "lyrics" will pull up anything with lyrics.

Here they are:
Guitar Hero Van Halen Song List
Alter Bridge - "Come to Life" - 2
Billy Idol - "White Wedding" - 2
Blink 182 - "First Date" - 1
Deep Purple - "Space Truckin'" - 1
Foo Fighters - "Best of You" - 3
Foreigner - "Double Vision" - 2
Fountains of Wayne - "Stacy's Mom" - 3 (Wife says it's a 2)
Jimmy Eat World - "Pain" - 3 (Drug Use)
Judas Priest - "Painkiller" - 3 (Open to Debate)
Killswitch Engage - "The End of Heartache" - 2 for lyrics, but it SOUNDS like a 4 (screamy)
Lenny Kravitz - "Rock and Roll is Dead" - 4
Queen - "I Want It All" - 1
Queens of the Stone Age - "Sick, Sick, Sick" - 5 (Wow!)
Tenacious D - "Master Exploder" - 4 (In game, it's like a 2)
The Clash - Safe European Home - 4
The Offspring - Pretty Fly (for a white guy) - 3
Third Eye Blind - "Semi Charmed Life" - 5 (I had no idea. They must have a radio edit of this.)
Van Halen - "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" - 4
Van Halen - "Atomic Punk" - 2
Van Halen - "Eruption" - Instrumental
Van Halen - "Feel Your Love Tonight" - 4
Van Halen - "Ice Cream Man" - 3
Van Halen - "I'm the One" - 2
Van Halen - "Jamie's Cryin'" - 2
Van Halen - "Runnin' With The Devil" - 3 (also open to debate)
Van Halen - "You Really Got Me" - 2
Van Halen - "Beautiful Girls" - 3
Van Halen - "Dance the Night Away" - 2
Van Halen - "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" - 3
Van Halen - "Spanish Fly" - Instrumental
Van Halen - "And the Cradle Will Rock" - 2 (yes, open to debate)
Van Halen - "Everybody Wants Some" - 4 (But I love it)
Van Halen - "Loss of Control" - 2
Van Halen - "Romeo Delight" - 3
Van Halen - "Hear About It Later" - 3
Van Halen - "Mean Street" - 3
Van Halen - "So This Is Love?" - 3
Van Halen - "Unchained" - 3
Van Halen - "Cathedral" - Instrumental
Van Halen - "Hang 'Em High" - 2
Van Halen - "Intruder/Pretty Woman" - 2
Van Halen - "Little Guitars" - 2
Van Halen - "Hot for Teacher" - 3 (Yeah, open to debate)
Van Halen - "Jump" - 1
Van Halen - "Panama" - 4
Weezer - "Dope Nose" - 3
Yellowcard - "The Takedown" - 2

And there you go. Enjoy!

Buy Guitar Hero Van Halen from Amazon!

Review: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for Wii

Dale — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:48:19 -0500

Which is more important in a game, play mechanics or graphic quality? The Final Fantasy series has excelled since Final Fantasy VII in graphics that push each successive console's capabilities, especially in its cutscenes, but Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers breaks through the weakness of its predecessors by merging the beauty of its cutscenes with the game engine, creating a completely seamless game play experience.

The game begins with a typical Final Fantasy cutscene, with slightly effeminate men, flying ships, and giant attacking birds. Without warning, a Wiimote appears on the screen, instructing the player to shoot at the giant birds. That follows with more cutscene, after which the title screen finally appears. Yes, all that excitement and gaming occurs before the opening menu.

The entire games flows like this, moving seamlessly from cutscene to action, alerting players of the time to react and how to do so, but at no time in this game did I ever see a load screen or have to wait for the next phase to load. Seriously. Playing this game is like controlling an actor in a strange and beautiful movie that combines fantasy and steampunk elements. When moving through various areas, the local populace continues on with their lives, playing arguing with each other, and not just standing around like in many RPG's, using a communication system similar to that of The Sims, expressing themselves via floating symbols. Like an actor, players have little control over the plot or direction of the story and basically just follow orders, but each combat and travel sequence allows players to unlock secrets, discover plot twists, and participate in unique combat using telekinesis as the primary weapon and using the Wiimote as it was intended.

Certain recurring Final Fantasy elements return in Crystal Bearers, like the chocobos (giant chicken steeds) and mogs (think "Hello Kitty" with power and attitude), but at the same time, this title presents a completely unique chapter in the Final Fantasy series, offering a vast variety of locales, enemies, and NPC's.

The game includes an auto-save feature, so players won't have to go back far in case of a failed mission. That said, this game, while it increases in difficulty over time, isn't all that difficult.

The game also includes a limited multiplayer option, allowing a second player to use a separate telekinesis control simultaneously with the first player. While this will help the first player, the second cannot control a second character, so it's a very limited role, although a great option for a slightly younger child who wants to "help" a parent or older sibling. The game is beautiful enouigh that the second player may not mind just watching much of the time.

Parents will note that players must steal as part of the game, so this may be a good chance to talk to your kids about such issues. Clothing on some characters can be somewhat immodest for some parents' taste, but not bad for a fantasy video game.

Some players just don't like long cutscenes. If you don't, you'll hate this game. But if you appreciate digital art and a good story in your game and want something different from the standard RPG, you'll really enjoy this one, one of my favorite RPG's ever. I recommend it, based on difficulty and content, for ages 11 to adult.

Review: Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer's Edition

Dale — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:45:59 -0500

The video game industry has become huge, a multi-billion dollar industry, far from the early days of Pong and Pac-Man. As it has blossomed, it has developed its own trends and set its own records. To commemorate the industry's various accomplishments, the Guinness Book of World Records has published a specific volume just for video games, the Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer's Edition.

Laid out in the style of most video game magazines, this full-color folio-size book features facts and records from the early days of gaming to the present. Its 216 pages offer a fun read for fans of video games and trivia. The illustrations help keep the attention of those used to short game levels. Some game facts include:

Longest delay between video game installments: 21 years, Bionic Commando
First tennis videogame: Tennis for Two, 1958
Best selling game on any platform: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Parents will note that this book covers all video games, including M-Rated ones. Some of the illustrations depict violent scenes or characters with less-than-modest costumes, but as still images, there's nothing extremely controversial that will get this book on banned book lists. Still, you might want to leaf through it a bit before buying.

If you want your child to read or are a fan of gaming yourself, this volume offers an interesting collection of facts. If it sounds interesting to you, you'll likely enjoy it and consider it worth your $15, if you can put the controller down long enough to read it!

Review: Dragon Ball Revenge of King Piccolo

PD Love — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:21:39 -0500

I never knew of Dragon Ball the anime series but was intrigued by the game Dragon Ball Revenge of the King Piccolo by Bandai Namco Games. My sons are fans of a lot of the anime series and games and this title seemed to have a different approach over the standard Pokemon, Bakugan and Chaotic types. This one seemed to be more of an adventure type game rather than just dueling.

To this point, we were not disappointed. Dragon Ball allows for a story mode where players take on the task of finding items, progressing through various challenges and fighting off adversaries. The tasks are challenging and require both timing, skill and problem solving. Use of the Wii Remote is fairly well done and required the numchuck unless using the old style adapter.

Story mode was fun but the interaction with other characters, the telling of the story and the setup seemed a bit long winded. For those who become a bit impatient, this setup may be a bit tough to sit through. It does lend to the story and the overall game play but seemingly it could be condensed a bit or at least offer options to shorten it without losing the important elements of the story.

There is also a head to head tournament mode that allows two players to square off against each other in battle. This area requires timing and use of special attacks based on the character you command. I found this area to be more fun than the story mode because we were able to play two player and aside from a little trash talking, enjoy a competitive round of battle.

Having not been one to watch the original series, I can't speak to accuracy with the story line or about special features involved in the game that series fans would notice. It does seem to me that some form of two player story mode should be available but it appears that is not an option. Game play overall is fun and I find it more enjoyable than some of the other anime titles, especially the tournament battle. The cast of characters are enjoyable and distinctive, which adds to the fun, even for a novice such as myself.

Review: Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for the Nintendo Wii

rmgreg — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:02:34 -0500

I recently reviewed THQ’s Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter video game for the Nintendo DS and I was left less than unimpressed. So in this review, my son Nikolai (age 8) got his hands on Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for the Nintendo Wii. Based on the fact that he still cracked a smile after playing the game for the better part of a day, I’ll assume that he made out a lot better in his review than did I.

Pencil Sketches

Now the first thing to note is that Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for the Nintendo Wii is nothing like Nintendo DS version. First and foremost, there is a lot less character jabbering. See my review on the DS version for my issues with character jabbering in that game. Another thing to note is that the overall story is different. Sure, both games take place in Raposa, where Mari is the Mayor of the village, Jowee is a supporting character, and Wilfre is the main baddy. It’s also similar in that the player takes on the role of the Creator, who helps the people of Roposa by creating a Hero to defend them. However, from this point on, the games begin to differ. In this version, items are being stolen from the village… Magical items… Magical items that can bring about the destruction of the Creator. While in the DS version, it was the colors that make up the Raposan world that were being stolen.

Ink and Paper

Drawn to Life for the Wii plays like a two dimensional Mario-type game where the character attempts to navigate obstacles and pitfalls while collecting bonus items and completing challenges. Only in this game, we discover that the Creator’s Pen can be somewhat mightier than the sword. During the game, the Hero will encounter Drawing Tools, where the Creator will be able to draw items that the Hero needs to complete a certain task in the game. In addition, there are required Action Drawings, marked by dashed lines in the game where the Creator may be required to draw a platform for the Hero to stand on, or a ball for the Hero to roll, or a block for the Hero to climb. Like I mentioned in my DS review for the game, think of it as something akin to Harold and the Purple Crayon.

White-Out

As I mentioned before, I had a real problem with the DS version of this game, so before I sat-down to watch Nikolai play this version of the game I asked him if he was having a problem with the Wii version, particularly in the storytelling. He seemed a bit confused by my question and it was only after I sat and watched him play the Wii version for a while that I realized that my assumption that the both versions of the game were the same was mistaken. It was just my dumb luck that I got the lousy version of the game.

Overall Impressions

So as I alluded to earlier, Nik spent the better part of a day playing this game. Actually, it was more like a couple of days, and it was I who spent the better part of a day watching him play. Nik only stopped playing when he asked me if I had seen enough and could he quit the game and move onto something else. In other words, Nik sacrificed the better part of a day playing this game for our review… What a little trooper. So with that in mind, Nikolai has decided to give Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for the Nintendo Wii 99 Thumbs Up out of 100, stating that the game got easily boring after awhile.

Parting Thoughts

All right, show of hands; who thinks they could solve a lot of their problems with Harold’s Purple Crayon??? Yeah, thought so.

In the Interest of Full Disclosure: We received a free copy of this game for review purposes and a box of sidewalk chalk.

Review: World of Zoo fro the Nintendo Wii

rmgreg — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:14:26 -0500

Many, many moons ago, I tried adopting a virtual pet in the form of a fish in an aquarium on a PC. My fish, which I named Sushi, lasted about a day--not because it died on me mind you, but because I was afraid it was going to die on me. So I practiced a touch of virtual preemptive euthanasia and saved everyone involved a bit of depressing aggravation.

These days, virtual animals have taken on a life of their own, so to speak. Case in point is World of Zoo for the Nintendo Wii by THQ. However, in this game you're not responsible for just one animal but for a whole menagerie with eleven habitats, which can house multiple animals of both the adult and infant variety.

Kibble

The animals that find themselves under your charge include antelopes, bears, big cats, crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, horses, koalas, small monkeys, pandas, and penguins. As their handler, it is up to you to keep them healthy and happy. When the animals are happy, you earn hearts. As you earn more hearts you get promoted, which unlocks more features in the game. The senior animal position earned is known as the Whisperer for that particular animal, eg. you can become a giraffe Whisperer.

Another feature of the game is collecting Star Tokens for completing certain tasks or challenges concerning the upkeep of your animals. Earning Star Tokens allows you to do additional things like purchase more animals or add new features to the animals’ habitat.

Squeaky Toy

Interacting with the animals is pretty straightforward. Basically, you use the Wii Remote to control a gloved hand icon on the screen. With the gloved hand icon, you can pet the animals or interact with their environment. You also use the gloved hand to access your caregiver inventory, which includes various foods for the different types of animal species. A bit of a side-note, as strange as it may seem, there appears to be a consistent item on the dietary menu for most of animals: spicy sushi, go figure. Anyway, also in the caregiver’s inventory are playthings like different types of balls or balloon animals for your animals to interact with. Sometimes the animals will let you know what type of ball they want to play with by projecting a thought balloon over their head with an image of the sought-after plaything. Rounding out the caretaker inventory are the tools needed to keep the animals healthy (one standard animal medical scanner), clean (one standard animal brush and one standard animal hose), and poop-free (one standard animal poop vac).

Pooper Scooper

The thing about virtual pets is that they're interesting in the beginning, however after a while you quickly discover how much they lack in appeal when compared to the real thing. Soon, you end up ignoring the virtual animal, and in cases where the virtual animal needs daily attention, the virtual animal dies. However, this is not the case with this game; thank heaven for small favors. Rather, you soon discover that you try to find ways to annoy the virtual animal just to do something different and to see how the virtual animal responds. I suppose this was how Nikolai (age 8) discovered this item in his caregiver’s inventory, an air horn one can use to wake-up/startle the Big Cats ... Oh my, the things we do to amuse ourselves.

Overall Impressions

For this review, Nikolai took the animal reins, as it were, and I watched him play. He did pretty well achieving the level of Big Cat Whisperer despite often startling the Big Cats with the air horn. So he was seriously engaged in the game. With that said, he's decided to give World of Zoo for the Nintendo Wii 99 Thumbs Up out of 100 because after awhile he felt that the game got boring… And once again, I cite as evidence, the air horn.

Parting Thought

As I mentioned before, many, many moons have past since the passing of Sushi and I have come to the realization: who needs a virtual pet when one has kids?

In the Interest of Full Disclosure: We received a free copy of this game for review purposes.