I beat this a little while back and have been meaning to make this thread. First off, D:DoC isn't a bad game at all. It's just rough around the edges and the core gameplay isn't refined enough for a title coming from Nintendo. I can see why they chose to not release in it in NA though I thought it was a lot of fun. The decision to make part of the gameplay rescuing people was a great choice and I really enjoyed finding and saving people. However, here are areas where Nintendo could have improved:

1. Motion-controls

Motion controls are used throughout the game. However, they are largely poorly implemented in that they either make the game too easy (spiriting sections) or are just plain bad (driving sections). This is a case of trying to force motion controls into being used when they really add no benefit. Nintendo could have improved this by making sequences tailored to the controller (ie: bomb disarming in the finale, rescuing sections). I found dodging attacks from the final boss with motion controls to be incredibly unreliable which made gameplay much worse than with traditional dodging controls with an analog stick.

2. Story

The story in this game is basically nonsense. Surge decide to active their earthquake machine in Blue Ridge City and steal nukes in order to get the president to send them money (iirc). Since Surge has kidnapped an old female friend, the protagonist has to save her! Oh boy that's original! A few basic facts about the main characters are basically vomited into your lap and you're left to sort out what the hell is supposed to be going on. The voice acting isn't really worth mentioning.

3. Lightgun Sections

It wouldn't be as bad if SURGE was just one of the enemy groups you faced, but fighting wave after wave of cloned soldier is a bit tiresome. I'm used to repetition but Nintendo should have done something to make encounters more memorable and feel less copy-pasted from area to area. Some sort of CQC for enemies near you in lightgun sections would have worked (ie: taking a human shield, being able to disabe an opponent without shooting). There are also very few boss fights and forgetable set pieces. A good 1/3 of the battles should have just been removed because they were poorly done.

4. CAMERA

This game suffers from the camera problems that many PS1/PS2 games do. Camera placement is often awkward and out of place in tighter corridors and it is often impossible to see where you are going. Add in hazards in small areas and this is an exercise in frustration. Manual camera controls weren't any better. One nifty feature however is being able to look at events of interest near you as they happen (falling building, tsunami, lava eruption, etc) which was a nice touch.

Like I said above it's a fun game. It just struck me as wasted potential to get it to this point but not polish it to make something really worthwhile. I would love to get a sequel that's more fleshed out.

Has anyone else played this game? What did you think of it?

A remake seems to be in order.

well i thought the motion controls were fine for back then it was just a bit rough like you mentioned but all around pretty great to me id give it an 8. Though unlike you i dont see why they didnt bring it.

i still dont see why they dont just send over like 20 000 copies to NA

You guys are lucky to be able to play it. Disaster was one of my most anticipated titles on the Wii. Its games like that I was looking forward too and were a big reason I purchased the Wii (Other then Nintendo's other fine franchises). I was extremely dissapointed when it was announced that Disaster was not coming to Canada. I bet alot of American's share my pain.

I also disagree and see no reason for NA not to have brought the title over. Even if it wasn't the highest caliber title their was periods where Nintendo released nothing, holiday seasons with only two or so big games. Nintendo had plenty of opportunities to release it, better a low caliber anticipated game then no game at all. 2008 is the perfect example that winter D:DOC should have been released alongside Animal Crossing!

Import PAL version and HBC. I'm Canadian as well.

I'm not saying I agree with Nintendo not bringing it over, I can just see why they didn't. 

I was really looking forward to playing this game when I heard of it. I hope they remake the concept with better story and gameplay.

I played a friend's copy shortly after release and I pretty much agree with you.  I think it's underrated, a solid game in the low 80%s.  The main problems IMO being the all over the place story and inconsistent camera.

A lot of stores in my local area sell the game for about £10, and for that it is a very good buy, so I would advise you all to buy it if you see it at that price.

It's a fun little game, just not going to be everyone's cup of tea with the different styles of play. I really enjoyed it, it was just a fun and it was bargain at less than £15!

Whew. Saw this game for 5€ on a local store. Did not bother to buy it and this post makes me feel good about that decision. :)

Now I have only a slight regret for not buying metroid prime corruption for 5€. Maybe I should head back. :D