REVIEW: Nintendo Land

Yoshi’s Fruit Cart (1 Player)
Yoshi’s Fruit Cart is a ton of fun and uses the gamepad in an awesome way. The TV screen displays a green field with plates of fruit, a starting point and a door. You must draw a path through the fruit to the exit door on the gamepad. Here’s the catch: The fruit doesn’t show up on the gamepad. All you see is the starting point and the exit door. This game is super addicting, and at later levels will have you yelling obscenities at bees. But victory is sweet, and you can take pride in defeating the bees. Not today, bees! Not today.

Takamaru’s Ninja Castle (1 Player)
Fling shuriken at paper ninja and fight your way through a castle. More weapons are unlocked as you progress. There’s something satisfying about a single fighter storming a castle… and winning. This game can sometimes require recalibration, however it’s incredibly easy to do on the fly. Each time you start a level it recalibrates the pointer, and each time you restock your shuriken (by tilting the gamepad up) it recalibrates the pointer to the top and center of the screen. This can be annoying if you forget to center your gamepad when tilting it up, and can cause the pointer to become even more off, but as long as you know what you’re doing it should be fine. The game is sort of challenging, but like the others it won’t reach “frustrating.”

Captain Falcon’s Twister Race (1 Player)
Captain Falcon’s Twister Race has the most issues of all the Nintendo Land games. The gamepad (which you tilt to turn) has a tendency to need recalibration. A lot. It gets pretty off, pretty often. The game itself is fun, as far as racing games go. You don’t have any opponents, instead you’re racing against the clock. Most obstacles will slow you down, but there are some that will blow you up, too. The game is entertaining, but it’s annoying to constantly recalibrate the controller, and sometimes when I tried recalibrating it just got worse!

Balloon Trip Breeze (1 Player)
It’s pop or be popped in this sidescrolling whirlwind of excitement. Using the gamepad to control the breeze on the TV and propel your Mii across dangerous skies can be quite stressful at times. There’s no feeling quite like the one you get after successfully navigating your way through a particularly vicious maze of spikes without losing a balloon, especially if you manage to do it with a package in tow! This game is tons of fun.

Adventure Tour (2-5 Players)
Adventure Tour is a fun way to try out Nintendo Land. It plays out like Mario Party, without the board. You select how many rounds you want to play at the beginning (options depend on the number of players). The game designates who will be using the gamepad that round, and that player gets to select the game to be played from the options provided. Each round you can win points, some rounds may be worth double points. Whichever player has the most points at the end wins!

Coins and Stamps
Every time you play a game in Nintendo Land you can earn Coins. If you take these coins to the central tower of Nintendo Land you can play a minigame, much like Plinko from The Price Is Right, to turn these coins into fabulous prizes with which to decorate the park! Don’t worry, if you don’t like the clutter you can put them away by jumping on a yellow button. Additionally, you can earn Stamps (much like Achievements or Trophies) while playing games in Nintendo Land. They don’t seem to give you anything besides bragging rights, but bragging rights are fun, right?

Overall, I found Nintendo Land to be a great game. It’s bursting with fun games, with plenty to do whether you’re playing alone or with up to four friends, and even some of the one player games have opportunities for your friends to help (or hinder!) your progress. All the games have a unique look (and look great in HD!), the music is classic and catchy. Every AI character I played with did a nice job, and just when you think you’ve beaten a game you unlock more content! This game is a blast, and although there are some minor flaws in a couple of the attractions (and your guide Monita can be really annoying!), I still heartily recommend this game to anyone who enjoys kicking back and having fun. If you don’t have a Wii U, try to pick it up in the Deluxe set. If you already have a system, this game is still worth getting as a standalone. Nintendo Land is the new “Happiest Place on Earth” right in your home.