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Nintendo’s ethos for Wii appears to be about going
back-to-the-drawing-board in more respects than had originally been
suspected. Not only are Nintendo rewriting the rules on
 exactly
what constitutes as a “gamer”, development philosophy and marketing
strategies, but also, they seem to like reissuing almost every
gaming tradition as if it were the first. Perhaps this is an attempt
to bring those players for which this may well be their first time
playing tennis, boxing, flipping cards or shooting in a videogame
up-to-speed, perhaps it’s simply recognition of what Nintendo have
already accomplished this generation. Whatever the reason, the
highly-anticipated Wii Zapper peripheral has been no different.
With an RRP of £19.99, the Wii Zapper is a robust
peripheral that, when combined with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk, create
an accurate-enough representation of a gun. Several titles have
already been released to utilise the peripheral – including SEGA’s
Arcade hits Ghost Squad and
The House Of The Dead: 2 & 3 Return – and, bundled with the
attachment, is Link’s Crossbow Training.
Link’s Crossbow Training is essentially an
educational tool; in the same way that Wii Play demonstrated
the unique aspects of the Wii Remote, Link’s Crossbow Training
informs the player with the appropriate handling of the Wii Zapper.
There are nine Levels in the title, each of which has three Stages.
A cumulative score is kept across all three Stages and a Medal is
awarded at the end of the Level, provided you have hit the required
score. There are Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Medals available,
and after the first three Levels are complete a Bronze Medal must be
achieved for further Levels to become unlocked. High Scores are not
achieved by simply shooting the appropriate targets. Consecutive
hits bring
Multipliers into play, which can very quickly turn a ten-point
target into a sixty-point target. There are plenty of background
objects that can be shot to score points, and then further more can
be gained by shooting items that these original objects may
activate, but none of these objects will affect your Multiplier –
only missing can end it.
The title effectively features two distinct types of
Levels, with rules that vary each from the default structure. The
design of the basic Arcade-style Levels is immaculate, showing
Nintendo’s unquenchable thirst for simply good games has not
yet been satisfied, and the on-rails Levels falter only to
Nintendo’s own StarFox series. The on-foot sections of the
title, however, are to be considered the weakest. Following an
approach more closely resembling to Resident Evil’s Arcade
outing than Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles or The
House Of The Dead: 2 & 3 Return, these Levels may well be less
entertaining, yet still flourish with intuitive design and
stunningly well-presented surroundings. The biggest flaw in the
title would be its lack of Multi-Player. The option from the Menu
Screen simply allows you to play in alternating score runs – less
essential than playing through the Single-Player in turns.
The title is well polished, featuring a greater
attention to detail than that seen in The Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess within its more confined arenas, though
thematically remaining in the same world. Full of character and with
no glitches to be seen, Link’s Crossbow Training offers a
well-formed world whether it be your first, or five-hundredth play
of a light-gun based videogame. The soundtrack accompanying mainly
features the orchestral scores seen in The Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess, so while being wonderful, could not be
classified as particularly original.
Link’s Crossbow Training, however, isn’t a full-price
product. Bundled with a Wii Remote attachment that itself is
realistically priced, Link’s Crossbow Training should
be considered a free bonus akin to the Metroid Prime Hunters:
First Hunt Demo bundled with the Launch NintendoDS units, and
the GameCube port of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
included within the European package of The Legend Of Zelda: Wind
Waker, and even more recently the Wii Wheel included with
Mario Kart Wii. And if this is a sign as to how Nintendo’s
generosity is to continue, as suggested at E3 2008, with the
inclusion of a Wii MotionPLUS unit with every copy of
Wii Sports Resort, things are looking very bright indeed. Link’s
Crossbow Training is a wonderful piece of software entertainment
in its own right, and as part of the Wii Zapper bundle, is perhaps
the greatest
value-for-money package yet seen on the
Current-Generation. |
