Wii Play (with Wii Remote) (Wii, 2007)

The Wii Play comes with an additional Wii-remote so you can "play with a friend". A great idea since the Wii console only comes with one Wiimote & makes it even better for the $'s as it's included in the game price. :)There are nine games on the disk.

* Shooting Range - shoot at various targets
* Find Mii - locate either pairs of Mii's, odd Mii's or your own Mii
* Table Tennis - paddles, a ball, a net & a table
* Pose Mii - use your Wiimote to pose your Mii & match it to one pictured
* Laser Hockey - like table hockey, but electrified in neon
* Billiards - traditional game of pool set-up; helps to know you must go in # order
* Fishing - catch the fish, but not the little guys or they cost you
* Charge - ride a cow & knock downs some scarecrows - a race against time
* Tanks! - battle it out with some tanks; blow up the enemies

When you put the disk in for the first play, the Wii starts you off with the Shooting Range as a way to start mastering the Wiimote. They call it stages. Basically, you play a game to master the different ways the Wiimote functions (it's a great idea actually, if you haven't already figured out the Wiimote). As you play each of the games or stages you master a different use of the Wiimote. You finish up with the final stage being the Tanks! which really does take some mastery of the Wiimote and the nunchuck. In a single-person play you earn points and can see your rank against your prior plays; you also have the opportunity to "earn a bronze, silver or gold Medal". In two-player mode the person with the higher score is declared the winner.

The instruction booklet is well laid-out making it easy to follow, as are the on-screen directions. It's also much easier to jump right into playing than some other games - very user friendly in that respect. You can choose to play with one person (against the computer where needed) or you can choose to play with two people. Two players are the maximum amount that can play at one time. That was one disappointment to us, as it would be nice to be able to play with more people, like the Wii-Sports allows. However, I can see in some games where this would not be very feasible. Like all games, it has its good points and its bad points.

Pros
Easy to learn
Nice variety
Quick games - bystanders don't have to wait long for their turn
Most games are a lot of fun
Easy to lose track of time
More than just thumb &d finger play
Choose your own Mii that you created
Best games (ordered by rank): Shooting Range, Charge, Billiards, and Tanks!

Cons
Sadly, one additional Wiimote is all that is needed with this game - only 2 players can challenge each other at one time.
Find Mii can be boring, and it's very difficult to make it to higher levels
Table Tennis can be tedious and it's such a short area it's difficult to judge, plus some what boring back and forth activity
Pose Mii - eeek, what were they thinking on this one?
Laser Hockey - you get stuck to the side too easy and then you can't play, that's no fun
Billiards - sensitivity to how hard you hit the ball is not real reliable
Two player mode shows a You win / You lose at the end and can be kind-of depressing for the loser to see their Mii all down-in-the-dumps.
Same complaint I have about all the Wii games - they don't save to the console, so you always have to use the disk. It would be nice if you could save it to the console and not have to keep changing disks between the different games.