Nintendo Land is the latest entry in a series of software destined to be adopted by the largest number of people. In that sense, it is the successor of Wii Sports, and before that, of the Touch! Generation line-up.
Like the titles mentioned, its broad appeal aims at conquering the casual market, and, it’s a novelty, make it curious about more sophisticated forms of gameplay, or better said, hardcore games.
Reviews
GameMaster review - 86%
IGN - 8.7/10
1UP - B+
Gamexplain (video review) - 4.5/5 (multiplayer), 4/5 (singleplayer)
GamesBeat - 83/100
Joystiq - 4/5
GameInformer - 7/10
Destructoid - 7/10
Gamespot - 8.0/10
Previews
GameXplain - Video Preview E3 2012 (Animal Crossing: Sweet Day, Luigi's Ghost Mansion, Donkey Kong's Crash Course, and Takamara's Ninja Castle)
GameXplain - Video Preview E3 2012 (Yoshi's Fruit Cart, Octopus Dance, and Captain Falcon's Twister Race)
News on GAF
NSMBU & Nintendo Land Download Sizes & Japan DD games
Nintendo Land Zelda Battle Quest UK commercial
Nintendo Land - Yoshi's Fruit Cart and Octopus Dance Revealed
Updates
2012-11-13 - Official website not updated yet.
2012-11-14 - Bill Trinen explains how Miiverse is integrated in Nintendo Land. All features might not be unveiled yet.
2012-11-14 - Nintendo Land Plazza video at night in English
2012-11-15 - Review Thread up.
2012-11-18 - DD price for NA added to the OP
2012-11-18 - Gamespot's review gives Nintendo Land a 8.0
Nintendo Land is a mini-game collection that offers single-player and multi-players sessions alike that make use of the Gamepad, the WiiU-only controller that ships with the console. Multi-player is offline so far (as to 2012-11-22).
The game’s content is freely inspired by other Nintendo franchises, hence its name.
ESRB rating: E (10+)
Nr. of players: 1-5
JP: December 8, 2012
EU: November 30, 2012
NA: November 18, 2012
JP: ￥4,935 (retail) | ￥4,935 (DD)
EU: 50 € (retail) | ?
NA: 59.99 $ (retail) | 59.99 $ (DD)
12 different mini-games are playable in Nintendo Land, each representing one of the company’s higher profile franchises. F-Zero, Zelda, Mario, you name it
Control either Samus’ gunship or a Mii on foot to defeat other players in a kawai third-person shooter. A co-operative mode has you team up with your mates to defeat waves of enemies.
Gunship user plays with the Gamepad while others play with their wiimote w motionplus+nunchuk combo.
It is your good old Pikmin game but with some Gamepad sauce. Players can use their wiimote to help Olimar around while being Pikmin themselves, and the goal as usual is to beat a boss at the end of the level.
Based on videos and impressions, this game seems to focus much on action, and less on strategy.
Don’t team up with an asshole: while up to four dudes and gals can swing their sword to cut through cute enemies, the player with the Gamepad gets to look all around your team and shoot arrows at enemies.
If he is not quick enough, you might be caught off-guard by a backdoor attack, and since you all share the same health bar… might actually be a good chunk of fun.
The concept is easy as hell. Up to four players with the remote try to catch a Mario who is controlled by the fifth-player with the Gamepad. Really.
From where I stand, one of the most promising concepts of co-op/competitive multiplayer gameplay. One of your mates who plays with the Gamepad is a ghost who wanders in a
2D maze-like environment in which other players also are. Your goal as a ghost is to grab the players and give them a good scare while the players’ role is to avoid/destroy you.
When you are a player, the ghost is invisible. When your Mii senses the ghost near you, your wiimote will start to shake, amplifying the tension. It’s a sign that the Gamepad owner is
willing to have an affair with you. When it’s the case, run! But in what direction? Shedding light from your torch on the ghost weakens him, so that’s another option to stop the fear to spread.
With some pizza and a bunch of lazy friends, this seems like a really enjoyable timekiller.
More is not always better. Use your wiimote to navigate in a 2D environment in which you can grab sweets from trees. Of course, just like in the real world, the more sweets you get, the bigger you grow,
and eventually, you are walking no faster than babies. At this point, beware of the Gamepad dude whose goal is to steal sweets from you. When the game launches, more descriptions will be made available.
It sounds so simple but yet so frustrating that you wonder how nobody came with the idea before. Well, it’s simply because the game requires you to pay attention to both screens, on the Gamepad and on TV
(you most definitely need a TV to play the game). The goal is to help Yoshi grab fruits present on a plane 2D surface visible on the TV screen but on the Gamepad screen. The catch, you have to draw paths
for Yoshi on the Gamepad screen to grab all fruits before reaching the exit of the level. Sounds meh, looks fucked up and brilliant. Check the video, recommended.
OK, the name sounds interesting. Octopus Dance is a dance/rhythm game which doesn’t require to move your entire body but just your wrists. You must move the Gamepad in order to replicate the moves of
the character on the TV screen who teaches you choreographies. It’s the weakest entry in the list of minigames so far. From what we saw of it, Dance Octopus is a repetitive, simple concept that doesn’t require
anything else but some attention at a very small portion of the screen. Can it be enjoyable while not burn you retina?
Mine cart chase! Almost. Donkey Kong’s Crash respects its legacy with a mix of Donkey Kong Country and the Donkey Kong arcade game. Your Mii is on a cart that you must guide from a starting point to the end
of the level. It seems like the Gamepad doesn’t contribute much to the game outside its accelerometer which is present also in the Wiimote itself but again, GameMaster stated that solo games are rather forgettable.
It’s the Nintendo Land minigame present in the WiiU TV commercial. Throw shuriken at the moving targets! You can bet Ubisoft will build a shovelware Naruto game around this concept.
And yes. F-Zero is back. But do I need to go all AVGN on this one? It’s F-Zero but without being F-Zero.
The name itself is pretty self-explanatory. Equipped with a jet pack, you fly through dangerous environments. Seriously, why the hell would your Mii do that in first place. Is he/she totally nuts? You can bet
your cat I would immediately back off, had I been asked to sneak through airborne bombs.
Players can leave messages after each session of playtime which can be read by other players around the world
While in the Nintendo Land Plazza, Miis from other random users can be seen and their remarks is displayed if the palyers gets near them.
Presentation video on official website
Nintendo Land Plazza video at night in English
Big thanks to Quick for the art for the subsections and to Me_Marcadet for the advices. Thanks to Skiesofwonder for keeping the Review Thread tidy.
To all, have a good time
