I haven't seen anyone talk about this bundle yet on VGChartz. Received it through the mail today, and just did a fast (two player) play through and I came out happy with it. Maybe I'm biased because I got the strikingly gorgeous red remote with it (with matching red jacket and wrist strap), but the game itself has 12 mini-games (compared to the nine of Play) and similar to it's predecesor a few of them clicked for me:
- Pose Mii was a fun fast paced one in Play, the updated motion use of the gyroscope is great. The cooperative gameplay put some tension on my part... I was doing worse, put the blame on the old blue controller xD
- Skip Skimmer hides the IR calibration of the motion plus in a good way (noticed many of them tried to do the same), and the controls seem to have a deep learning curve, it even comes with an analysis of the throw (serious stuff).
- Spooky Search has that offscreen use of the gyro that Wii U is aiming for, it was interesting standing up and aiming around the room. The cooperative sections caught us off guard, took us a few tries until we got those.
- Star Shuttle is the solitary game of the bunch (just like space), the gyroscopes are lightly used in this one, it's mainly the use of thrusters while alining yourself to a target.
Still need to give it another few goes since games like Trigger Twist didn't work smoothly for some reason, it's the other example of gyroscope shooting and aiming, maybe I'm more used to IR pointing. Was also surprised with Wind Runner, I thought it was going to be the minigame I'd enjoy the most, but didn't get motions right - maybe I should exagerate them more next time.
Then there are some that showed promise but since we were going through them fast they didn't have time to shine. For instance in Treasure Twirl we only played through the first level but seemed like another interesting take on cooperative gameplay that uses a twisting mechanic to move up. Cone Zone too, some fast ice-scoops placements, though we did laugh a bit when our icecream towers collided. And lastly Trigger Twist didn't work too well for my partner, but it was fun throwing the ball to the other court (I get a feeling I'll be playing this one alone).
I didn't talk about Flutter Fly or Veggie Guardin, because Flutter Fly felt like a chore to complete and Veggie Guardin is a motion take on a game I don't like called Whac-A-Mole (plus I didn't play it, just watched).
Should you buy it? I'm glad it came out - specially with the red controller. A similar situation occured with Wii Play, it introduced me to IR pointing and gave me a second controller. Wii Play Motion introduced me to some new gyroscope game ideas and gave me the perfect excuse to sell those three year old white remotes (with motion plus adaptors) and begin replacing them with integrated remote pluses for the Wii U.
But these gyroscopic ideas come a bit late (better late than never?). It's a shame we didn't see this game come out when motion plus was launched, it would have been a good introduction to gyroscope motions, and Wii Sport Resort could have been released a few months down the line. In the end, motion plus is just a promise that's been moved to Wii U... where are the Wii Motion Plus games Nintendo? Only one, Skyward Sword (and its golden remote) for this holiday season.
