Wii Play with Wii Remote

I bought this during holidays season and the reason was to buy the controller. It was not possible to get it otherwise. So this is the whole idea for the bundle. As for the game itself - a collection of nine mini-games and there is nothing to write home about. My son switched back to Wii Sports after fifteen minutes of playing. We have never inserted the disk to the console since then.

We were needing a second remote for our Wii. I saw that Amazon offered the remote with the Wii Play game. I thought it was a pretty good deal for only about $10 more than if I were to buy only the remote. The remote works like it should. My kids enjoy the games on the disk.

For those who have recently purchased a Wii, this is a good way to get a second remote---and the games are just a bonus. These are also the kind of games that an amateur gamer or guest can easily pick up, so its a nice option to have around for playdates or family gatherings where not everyone is Wii-proficient. NOTE: from the box, it appears you are getting the remote alone, but it does come with the clear rubber jacket as well.

This game is just okay... I purchased this for my 8 year old son. He enjoys it sometimes. Its not the game he pulls out to play all the time. It was mainly purchased for the free remote. The games lack substance. They are short and not that fun at any age. Several folks in my household have played the variety of games on the disc and all have agreed.

If you need another remote, you may as well just pay a few extra bucks for this bundle. The games are OK, there are a few worth playing even after you have mastered them. You can always trade the game in at GameStop or some other place for more credit than the game costs, so we bought 3 to get up to 4 controllers, got $7 each for 2 of the games (+ a $10 bonus) and ended up with 3 controllers, the Wii Play game and a game we really liked. Hard to go wrong when it costs just a few dollars more than the remote itself. Sometimes you can even get it with free super saver shipping, which I dont see offered much for the remote alone...

If youve played Wii Sports and are expecting Wii Play to be more of the same fun, think again. Wii Plays games are much less involved, and while there are 9 games overall, there arent any hidden games or fun features that made Wii Sports so enjoyable, just mindless medals you can collect as you pursue high scores (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum). While Wii Sports was a game in which you could unlock features as you progressed, the only thing you unlock in Wii Play are the 9 games, and youre forced to do this unlocking process when you begin. Instead of being able to play all the games, you start with one, have to play it, then you can play the next one, until you end up in the ninth and final game. What is really annoying about this is that your score during the first run does not count toward the medals you get, so dont worry about doing well in any game until you have them all unlocked. Also, once you get a gold medal, you have to play again to even have a chance to get a platinum medal. Every time you get a medal your Wii gives you a hint about the game. However, if you get a Silver or Gold medal before you get a Bronze for example, then you lose out on a tip. Very poor design if you ask me. Of the nine games, I found Shooting Range, Charge!, Tanks!, Billiards, and Fishing rather fun, but Find Mii, Table Tennis, Pose Mii and Laser Hockey are not that great. Five decent side-games for $10 isnt too bad though. The Enjoyable 01. Billiards -- There is a bit of a learning curve here and its awkward because there doesnt seem to be any penalty for sinking the wrong balls, but with time youll love it. Just find some music to play because this game has a terrible soundtrack. 02. Tanks -- While Tanks! is by far the most complex game on the disc, it is also annoying to have to start from scratch all the time. Nice freeform play though and there is no time limit for single player mode. Pretty addictive. 03. Charge! -- While there is only one course, riding a weird looking cow is pretty cool. Unlike the other games, you decide where you are going the whole time, and the freeform design, despite the time limit, is a lot of fun. 04. Shooting Range -- This game will make you want a Wii Gun, lots of fun but limited playback. Just fun to shoot targets with Wiimote. 05. Fishing -- Very limited hungry hungry hippo like game, casting can be awkward due to the fish running out of room to swim, but an interesting game. The graphics are odd though. The Boring 06. Find Mii -- There are some interesting scenes, but very easy to get bored. Great for puzzle seekers and memory building though. For the odd Miis out, just look for something like Miis looking the wrong way at tennis. 07. Pose Mii -- Once again, great for the puzzle-loving crowd, but not my style of fun. 08. Table Tennis -- All you do is move the remote back and forth like pong, no swing, no skill involved except twitch gaming. Much better for the Wiimote actually than Laser Hockey since you move left and right rather than up and down the whole time, but still rather boring after awhile. I mean, if you have Wii Sports, Tennis is just so much better than Table Tennis. 09. Laser Hockey -- Worthless to play in single player, youll end up watching the CPU score goals for you because the puck ends up weirdly getting past the paddle too easy and it becomes impossible to save. Youll do the same back sometimes for the CPU. Better in multiplayer but the game dynamics just suck. Its hard to play a game with the Wiimote when you are controlling the left or right side of the screen and the game would have probably been more fun to use with traditional controller rather than a Wiimote.

I bought this because it was the same price as just purchasing a Wiimote. I figured we were bound to get one good game out of it. I was right! For the most part, these games are quite good. There are 8 games, including: a variation on Duck Hunt (from the original NES system), Pool, Table Tennis (which was somewhat difficult to get used to and not very impressive), a tank/shooting game (not too impressed by this one either), a cow racing game (hilarious!), two different matching/dexterity games, and a fishing game (which we have yet to figure out). All of the games allow you to use the full functionality of the Wiimote (and sometimes the nunchuk). Its totally worth it. Even if you only end up liking one of the games, its the same price as just getting the controller. Go for it!

If you need an extra Wii remote, are fairly new to the Wii and are low on games, this is your best route in terms of value. The game itself, Wii Play, feels more like a simplified version of Wii Sports (usually already bundled with the Wii system). One of its original intentions was as a training game to get you accustomed to the Wii remote. I say original intention because they have tacked on some slightly more complex game play than the heres how to use your remote games. If you were able to pick up this game by itself, its not worth the bother. Adults and children alike will grow bored slightly faster than with other Wii titles. But for the extra $10 on top of the cost of the Wii remote - you are getting an extra game and a break from the other couple games you might own as a new Wii owner. I imagine if youve involved yourself heavily into Wii gaming and are just now looking into an extra controller, the extra $10 may not be the right money spent as the Wii Play games are really not suited or meant for someone with a lot of Wii gaming experience.

I dont know whats up with people only giving this four stars - come on - youre paying a tiny bit extra to get a fun two player game with your extra Wii remote. Youre going to need more than one Wi-mote anyway so you can enjoy your Wii with more people, so why not add $10 to the cost and get Wii Play with it? The games are not as three dimensional as Wii Sports, but theyre still darn fun in their own right. Some people Ive played with even prefer the Wii Play games to the Wii Sports ones...

Since we were going to buy another wii-mote ($40) anyway, we figured we might as well get one that came with 9 games for just another $10. It was well worth it. The games arent as fun as the Wii Sports but some are very addicting. Our favorites so far are the duck-hunt style shooting game, the cow-racing, and the fishing game. I like the tanks too but it could be improved with more bubble-bobble-like gameplay, letting you re-start at the level you died on. But overall, if youre in the market for another wii remote, youd be hard-pressed to find a better deal.