I needed to get another MotionPlus Wiimote for a remote-deployed Wii and remembered Wii Play Motion. I was interested in it when it came out (a dream team of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party developers each developing minigames for nintendo?) but the $50 w/remote and $30 w/o pricing killed it for me.
I managed to get a copy on eBay for $35 and played through all the minigames yesterday. Long story short, I was right to wait in the first place, but it's not a terrible deal now, if you get it cheap.
Developers
ARZEST Corporation
Known for: StreetPass Mi Plaza. This was their first game. It's headed up by Naoto Oshima, the designer of Sonic.
Games: Cone Zone
Good-Feel Co.,Ltd
Known for: Kirby's Epic Yarn, Warioland: Shake It!, Looksley's Line Up
Games: Veggie Garden and Skip Skimmer
CHUNSOFT Co., Ltd.
Known for: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Shiren the Wanderer series, Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon games, Dragon Quest I - V
Games: Star Shuttle and a cut game called Dolphin.
MITCHELL CORPORATION
Known for: Polarium series, Magnetica series, Suujin Taisen/Number Battle
Games: Treasure Twirl and a cut game called Unicycle.
PROPE, Ltd.
Known for: being Yuji Naka's studio, Let's Tap, Let's Catch, Ivy the Kiwi? titles, Rodea the Sky Knight
Games: Trigger Twist
SKIP Ltd.
Known for: Chibi-Robo series, -art style- series, Giftpia, LOL, Snowpack Park, bit generations series
Games: Pose Mii Plus, Flutter Fly
VANPOOL,INC.
Known for: Tingle series of DS games, other titles here
Games: Wind Runner
Nintendo
Known for: ha ha.
Games: Teeter Targets
NdCUBE Co.,Ltd.
Known for: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Wii Party, Mario Party 9
They didn't do any games, but apparently did support work.
* Thanks to Mockingbird for doing the legwork
Games:
I only played one-player, but might try multi this weekend. Maybe my thoughts on the controls will hold up, though - I imagine non-Wii people will have an even harder time.
For the record, I have games by all of these developers, and really liked Wii Play outside of Find Mii.
Cone Zone (Arzest)
Hold the wiimote pointing up and balance a giant stack of ice cream scoops (or in the second mode spiral it to make a nice soft-serve cone). Pretty boring, though it could be an amusing sobriety test. This is the first minigame, and I was regretting the purchase.
Veggie Guardin' (Good-Feel)
This whack-a-mole game is a direct follow-up to the Game & Watch title Vermin. One of my favorite G&W titles! And this does right by it, with frantic but manageable action and a solid boss battle. My only complaint is that it's short. But admittedly I died on the boss and don't know if it continues.
Skip Skimmer (Good-Feel)
This is a rock skipping game. Here's where the limitations of MotionPlus start getting in the way. I find it hard to figure out why one throw is wonderful and another is awful, even with the help of a great throw analyzer. The length of motion needed to actually throw the damn rock seems to vary. Still, this is one of the most addictive and satisfying games in the compilation. Don't ask me why. I'm an accomplished stone skipper IRL, though.
Pose Mii Plus (skip)
This sequel to the Wii Play game is a shorter, motion-controlled clone of Thruspace/Ketzal's Corridors. I liked it. MotionPlus worked well and it was a lot more interesting than the original Pose Mii. Just kind of bummed that skip was wasted on it.
Trigger Twist (Prope)
This is a sequel to the Shooting Range in Wii Play, which was itself a follow-up to Duck Hunt. This one has different levels (in addition to the original "UFO" level, ninjas and dinosaurs). However, it's not a light-gun game exactly anymore. You are supposed to point the wiimote in true space as if you were not looking around while the display turns on the screen as if you were looking around. Does this sound confusing? It is. It would have been better as a light-gun game, MotionPlus or not. Boo.
Also, I found the wiimote getting very confused about where I was pointing it, so MotionPlus wasn't really helping.
Jump Park (Arzest)
Jump around a rubber-lined arena picking up floating gems. This reminds me of a Sonic the Hedgehog special stage: lots of random bounces but still barely controllable. Could have been better, but it's pretty good.
Teeter-Targets (Nintendo)
Ball-whacking target-smashing game. As soon as I played this, I thought, "wow, this is so much more polished, and the motion control is so much tighter." I was not at all surprised to find out that Nintendo developed it. It's probably the best executed game here, and possibly the most fun.
Spooky Search (Arzest)
Ghostbusters game. Similar concept as Twist Target, but mercifully uses the wiimote speaker instead. Point the wiimote in the direction where the beeping is strongest. Certain ghosts try to get away, and those segments are basically like a fishing game.
Wind Runner (VANPOOL)
Aw, man, this sounded so good. You have rollerskates, an umbrella, and a hurricane-force wind behind you. Use the umbella to rise the wind and collect gems through a course chock full of tar, ramps, and other racy things. Problem is, I just can't figure out how it wants me to hold the Wiimote, and it's just not fun. I'd really like to try it with a controller.
Treasure Twirl (Mitchell)
Another Game and Watch sequel, this is a followup to Octopus. Reminiscent of the diving sequences in Zelda Phantom Hourglass. This was very good, if a bit simple.
Flutter Fly (skip)
Fan a bunch of balloons through a maze. The fanning motions, no matter how I did them, confused the motionplus. And it wasn't very much fun even when it was working. Meh.
Star Shuttle (CHUNSOFT)
Don't know how I feel about this one yet. Use wiimote orientation plus d-pad, A, and B to install equipment on a space station with your spaceship. This is a very complicated control scheme and works quite well... I just don't know if it's actually fun.
So, in closing... the games are more substantial than in Wii Play, but IMO they don't work very well and there's less fun to be had. Still may be worth picking up for the half of games that are good, though. But the middling nature of the games Nintendo approved doesn't bode well for NintendoLand or Game & Wario, IMO.
I managed to get a copy on eBay for $35 and played through all the minigames yesterday. Long story short, I was right to wait in the first place, but it's not a terrible deal now, if you get it cheap.
Developers
ARZEST Corporation
Known for: StreetPass Mi Plaza. This was their first game. It's headed up by Naoto Oshima, the designer of Sonic.
Games: Cone Zone
Good-Feel Co.,Ltd
Known for: Kirby's Epic Yarn, Warioland: Shake It!, Looksley's Line Up
Games: Veggie Garden and Skip Skimmer
CHUNSOFT Co., Ltd.
Known for: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Shiren the Wanderer series, Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon games, Dragon Quest I - V
Games: Star Shuttle and a cut game called Dolphin.
MITCHELL CORPORATION
Known for: Polarium series, Magnetica series, Suujin Taisen/Number Battle
Games: Treasure Twirl and a cut game called Unicycle.
PROPE, Ltd.
Known for: being Yuji Naka's studio, Let's Tap, Let's Catch, Ivy the Kiwi? titles, Rodea the Sky Knight
Games: Trigger Twist
SKIP Ltd.
Known for: Chibi-Robo series, -art style- series, Giftpia, LOL, Snowpack Park, bit generations series
Games: Pose Mii Plus, Flutter Fly
VANPOOL,INC.
Known for: Tingle series of DS games, other titles here
Games: Wind Runner
Nintendo
Known for: ha ha.
Games: Teeter Targets
NdCUBE Co.,Ltd.
Known for: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Wii Party, Mario Party 9
They didn't do any games, but apparently did support work.
* Thanks to Mockingbird for doing the legwork
Games:
I only played one-player, but might try multi this weekend. Maybe my thoughts on the controls will hold up, though - I imagine non-Wii people will have an even harder time.
For the record, I have games by all of these developers, and really liked Wii Play outside of Find Mii.
Cone Zone (Arzest)
Hold the wiimote pointing up and balance a giant stack of ice cream scoops (or in the second mode spiral it to make a nice soft-serve cone). Pretty boring, though it could be an amusing sobriety test. This is the first minigame, and I was regretting the purchase.
Veggie Guardin' (Good-Feel)
This whack-a-mole game is a direct follow-up to the Game & Watch title Vermin. One of my favorite G&W titles! And this does right by it, with frantic but manageable action and a solid boss battle. My only complaint is that it's short. But admittedly I died on the boss and don't know if it continues.
Skip Skimmer (Good-Feel)
This is a rock skipping game. Here's where the limitations of MotionPlus start getting in the way. I find it hard to figure out why one throw is wonderful and another is awful, even with the help of a great throw analyzer. The length of motion needed to actually throw the damn rock seems to vary. Still, this is one of the most addictive and satisfying games in the compilation. Don't ask me why. I'm an accomplished stone skipper IRL, though.
Pose Mii Plus (skip)
This sequel to the Wii Play game is a shorter, motion-controlled clone of Thruspace/Ketzal's Corridors. I liked it. MotionPlus worked well and it was a lot more interesting than the original Pose Mii. Just kind of bummed that skip was wasted on it.
Trigger Twist (Prope)
This is a sequel to the Shooting Range in Wii Play, which was itself a follow-up to Duck Hunt. This one has different levels (in addition to the original "UFO" level, ninjas and dinosaurs). However, it's not a light-gun game exactly anymore. You are supposed to point the wiimote in true space as if you were not looking around while the display turns on the screen as if you were looking around. Does this sound confusing? It is. It would have been better as a light-gun game, MotionPlus or not. Boo.
Also, I found the wiimote getting very confused about where I was pointing it, so MotionPlus wasn't really helping.
Jump Park (Arzest)
Jump around a rubber-lined arena picking up floating gems. This reminds me of a Sonic the Hedgehog special stage: lots of random bounces but still barely controllable. Could have been better, but it's pretty good.
Teeter-Targets (Nintendo)
Ball-whacking target-smashing game. As soon as I played this, I thought, "wow, this is so much more polished, and the motion control is so much tighter." I was not at all surprised to find out that Nintendo developed it. It's probably the best executed game here, and possibly the most fun.
Spooky Search (Arzest)
Ghostbusters game. Similar concept as Twist Target, but mercifully uses the wiimote speaker instead. Point the wiimote in the direction where the beeping is strongest. Certain ghosts try to get away, and those segments are basically like a fishing game.
Wind Runner (VANPOOL)
Aw, man, this sounded so good. You have rollerskates, an umbrella, and a hurricane-force wind behind you. Use the umbella to rise the wind and collect gems through a course chock full of tar, ramps, and other racy things. Problem is, I just can't figure out how it wants me to hold the Wiimote, and it's just not fun. I'd really like to try it with a controller.
Treasure Twirl (Mitchell)
Another Game and Watch sequel, this is a followup to Octopus. Reminiscent of the diving sequences in Zelda Phantom Hourglass. This was very good, if a bit simple.
Flutter Fly (skip)
Fan a bunch of balloons through a maze. The fanning motions, no matter how I did them, confused the motionplus. And it wasn't very much fun even when it was working. Meh.
Star Shuttle (CHUNSOFT)
Don't know how I feel about this one yet. Use wiimote orientation plus d-pad, A, and B to install equipment on a space station with your spaceship. This is a very complicated control scheme and works quite well... I just don't know if it's actually fun.
So, in closing... the games are more substantial than in Wii Play, but IMO they don't work very well and there's less fun to be had. Still may be worth picking up for the half of games that are good, though. But the middling nature of the games Nintendo approved doesn't bode well for NintendoLand or Game & Wario, IMO.
