Underappreciated gems – Nintendo Land

We all remember Wii Sports right, of course we do we laughed and cried with our time spent with the game, we spent hours gathered around our television screens with our friends and family just trying to hit a ball, or throw a ball or just hit our friends in the face. Yes we remember the game for the fun it is and we remember all the remote mishaps and bruising caused by swinging around our remotes, we also remember the time cheering as we succeeded in a sport, beating out friends and family for a narrow victory. But most importantly we remember this game caught our attention and bought us to our love affair with the Wii and brought us closer to our families as we organized weekly manages to regain our lost honor, we remember the realism and the fact that we were actually able to play a sport for the first time in our lives, that is what the game did for me.

Yes Wii Sports was great, it was a masterpiece of an explanation to a gaming system and gave us a solid reason as to why we had to own the console, but as we know this rarely happens twice as is evidenced with the Wii U and Nintendo Land. Wii U launch title Nintendo Land has everything it needs to be fun and memorable, and it also delivers on one of the major key points of Wii Sports, it demonstrates a meaning for the Wii U and its gamepad peripheral.

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Nintendo Land provided twelve activities, all Nintendo themed and all based on a popular or historic Nintendo franchise, yes, they aren’t all winners but each had its own bonus in showing us what the Wii U can do and how exactly we can have fun with the game in such a way that is memorable and interactive. Sure, there are games like Takamaru’s Ninja Castle which is pathetic but made great use of the gamepad. Similarly to Ninja Castle there is also a small still a small range of other games that weren’t quite fun but do demonstrate the use of the gamepad.

But the real draw which makes this game as good and a real gem is the multiplayer type activities and the small selection of fun games that are enjoyable to play. Activities like Mario Chase stand as one of the most enjoyable games available and the easiest one to get into particularly if you can gather around at least five friends the game can be considered a blast with hours of gameplay fun and potential. Either way though even only having two people is still enjoyable and Mario Chase remains as one of the games major highlights, however because of the games lack of action beyond essentially playing a game of tag it draws little attention. This stands as the highlight multiplayer experience of the core game and one of the biggest reasons to want to play and appreciate the game.

On the other side of the scale Nintendo Land also provided some action within its depths with activities Metroid Blast, the standard activity may not be as sophisticated as the game it is drawn from but Metroid Blast is still a right piece of fun and excitement. From the basic single player action of shooting down Metroid enemies to the all out warfare of the multiplayer, the game is enjoyable and again presents hours of enjoyment all brought about by the clever use of the gamepad and Wii Remote. I have lost hours to the multiplayer and laughed quite happily with friends and family as I fought them in battle and cleverly triumphed, and there is something so fulfilling about succeeding in battle and winning using key strategy in the well made environments.

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It is sad that Nintendo Land is so underappreciated, it is a great game and it needs more appreciation, if only for the clever activities like Metroid Blast and Mario Chase. But there are still a small selection of other activities that are worth your time such as the single player Donkey Kong Crash Course which is obsessive fun, of course I just have one thing left to say if you own a Wii U you must Nintendo Land and share the fun with your friends it is a true Wii U gem and one that has to be played.

So do you think Nintendo Land is a true gem of the Wii U, please let us know in the comments. Also stay tuned to GameLuster for another unappreciated gems article in the future, wheneever I get around to it and figure out my next one.

Also on a final note I should be bringing back game of the week and other such articles back in the near future so look forward to those.

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