Wii play? Maybe. (Review)

We were in the mall today getting "Invisible Shields" installed on our cell phones. Knowing there wasn't much for new releases for any of our beloved consoles, I asked at Gamestop if they had Wii Play. They did, I was told that I was "lucky" because they are hard to find.

Realistically...I was glad just to get another Wii Remote.

Wii Play is a series of 9 minigames, most of which have little replay value. The "Duck Hunt" style shooting range and 9-ball pool are the highlights. The fishing, "Where's Waldo" type game, and pose-matching are throw-aways. The tanks, cow racing, pong-hockey, and ping-pong games have potential, but fall a bit short.

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I can say that the 9-ball pool is better than Bankshot Billiards (XBLA) by far. It's probably the only minigame I'll play multiple times. The controls are solid and the physics are mostly realistic.

The shooting gallery is fun, but there doesn't seem to be any penalty for shooting off infinite rounds. The change up between targets is nice, but it's brevity may be disappointing to some.

The ping-pong table is as expected. But after playing Wii Sports Tennis...this game is severely disappointing.

Problems are a plenty everywhere else. "Where's Mii?" as it should be renamed, has you in futile attempt to find the "odd Mii's out" but it's still a mystery as to what was different about them from the rest (they are ALL different). The pose matching is silly, the pong-hockey is oversensitive, and the fishing is boring. Cow racing is amusing as is the tank game...at least for 5 minutes.

I was hoping for a continuation of Wii Sports, which is probably why Wii Play is so disappointing. At least the game was only $10, since a Wii Remote is included. It's not bad to have around, but don't expect to be putting the same amount of hours in as the Wii's flagship game (which isn't Zelda).

Wii Play Pros:
-Comes with a Wii Remote
-The pool plays well
-Has multiplayer

Wii Won't Play:
-Fishing feels like a Warioware type minigame
-Feels like low-effort was put into most of the games
-Low replay value

Reminds me of:
"Boss Fights" in Warioware.

Rent or Buy:
If you need a Wii remote, buy. Otherwise, neither...it's not even worth a rent.

Mii Appraisal: $39.99 (price of the Wii remote)
MSRP: $49.99

Other opinions:
6.0/10.0 @ 1up.com
5.5/10.0 @ ign.com
3/5 stars @ GameSpy.com