It’s been a long time since I’ve used a light gun attachment for gaming, not since the mid 90’s when I had the Super NES with its heavy and uncomfortable bazooka add on called the Super Scope. It came with 6 games on one cartridge, 4 of which were total rubbish.
Many moons before the Super Scope, (yes…in the 80’s) there was a light gun for the NES; it was pistol shaped and much more comfortable to use than its SNES equivalent. The only real game for it was Duck Hunt which if rumors are true, is being re-developed for the Wii by Hudson Software.
Nintendo dropped light gun games for the N64 and Gamecube, presumably due to low sales. For some reason, light gun games have never been as popular in the home as the arcades. Usually because console hardware was much inferior to that of the arcade machine it was emulating at the time.
Now with Wii and its unique controller which captures dual infrared signals, accurate aiming can finally be achieved. Whilst not as powerful as the PS3 or 360, the Wii can pack a mean punch and easily handle a decent game that is thrown at it.
The Wii Zapper is a simple but effective plastic shell which the Wii Remote and Nunchuck slot into. It is made of the same white plastic that the other Wii hardware uses so everything is nice and seamless.
It took a short read of the instruction booklet to understand how to get the Nunchuck fitted (the special way to hid and wind the cable takes a little getting used to), but apart from that, setup is quick and easy and takes little time to master.
The Wiimote needs to be taken out of its Jacket (if it has one) and those with the extra bulky rechargeable battery packs may also find you cannot fit the Wiimote into the zapper. It is indeed a snug fit.
Originally intended to look like a pistol, its revamped shape is more like a machine gun. I can’t say I’m too worried either way; it’s just something to point at the screen, as long as it’s comfortable and works then I’m happy. You hold it in both hands and aim as you would a real gun, the Nunchuck is nicely positioned at the top for your thumb, and the trigger button (B) is situated exactly where you would expect.
One thing that springs to mind is that any games that use the (A) button as the trigger will not play very well at all using the Zapper and you might as well stick with the naked controller for those titles.
On its own, the shell isn’t worth the money. Someone at Nintendo also realised this and had the brainwave to include a free Zelda game in the box.
Links Crossbow Training is a simple but highly addictive target shooting game, you shoot arrows at various targets, be they bulls eyes, enemies or barrels. The whole game takes place using locations, characters and objects from Twilight Princess.
Some people might tell you this is cheap and that Nintendo are lazy for not developing and brand new game for the Zapper’s debut. I would have to disagree. Twilight Princess is still a great game, the graphics are great and the environments are fun and already tried and tested, I’d rather have that, than a thrown together series of corridors and metal training rooms that look like some shite shooter from the 360.
Although everything is from Twilight Princess, the graphics in Crossbow Training seem slightly crisper; I think that either Nintendo have polished them up a little since the release of TP or that’s it’s running at slightly higher resolution. Yippee!
There are 9 basic levels with extra ones to unlock; these are split into three categories, Target Shooting, Fixed Combat and Free Range.
Target shooting sees you aiming your crossbow from a 1st person perspective (rather like in Wii Play) at various targets; some are stationary whilst others move around.
Fixed Combat is similar to Target, but in 3rd Person, this allows for 360 degree rotation (enemies coming from all angles).
Free Range is more like Zelda as you know and love it, you can move link around as you would in Twilight Princess (no jumping or horse riding though) and explore the levels in a more traditional 3D manner. Aiming in this mode is done through the sight of the bow, rather than a standard crosshair on screen.
All your achievements are ranked in points which, if earned in high enough quantities can get you a bronze, silver or gold medal. Great stuff, lots of practice will be needed to unlock gold on every level, designed to keep you coming back to get those high scores.
There is support for up to 4 players, which is great. Sadly it is turn based rather than a sensational Goldeneye style multiplayer frag fest, but it’s better than nothing.
I suppose Nintendo would’ve included a more serious multiplayer game if:
A) They were releasing a full price title, and
B) If they thought people would be silly enough to buy 4 plastic shells and have 3 spare copies of the crossbow training game.
Sounds silly you might say, but not long ago Nintendo expected Zelda fans to buy a Gamecube, a £30 game, four game boy advances, and four special link cables to play the rather short but fun Four Swords Zelda title.
Sum up time.
Overall this is a nice title, and at less than £25 with a free piece of plastic thrown in for the pleasure, you can’t complain. It recycles from another Zelda game, but adds such a different dimension that you don’t really feel cheated and left thinking you’ve played this before.
Graphically this title is great, not quite the Wiis best (Mario Galaxy), but shiny and smooth none the less.
Sound wise, well it sounds like Zelda, but instead of a bow and arrow noise, there is a crossbow noise to enjoy instead.