Wii Party (Hands-On) (Wii) Preview

First things first, it is highly recommended that you do not play Wii Party on your own against the computer opponents. I tried doing just that whilst Mike (Mason) and Stu (StuLaw) wandered around trying other games, and instantly regretted it. One mode placed up to four players on a large game board, with mini-games being played in order to determine who received the first roll of the dice in order to progress around the board (set on an island), whilst the other involved trying to balance various differently sized Mii characters on a large galleon. Whilst the mini-games themselves were moderately enjoyable, having to sit around and wait for the three computer players to roll the dice, trundle around the island and be faced with various bonuses, traps and extra tasks was brain-achingly boring without any of the usual human interaction that makes these sort of games so hilarious.

Of those mini-games on offer, players had to take part in horse-racing (not using up the stallion’s stamina too quickly), leap over numerous logs to reach the finish line first, and even balance a massive pile of gifts in the face of strong gusts of wind from passing traffic, new presents falling from above on a regular basis. All made satisfactory use of the Wii Remote’s motion sensor capabilities, but many of the tasks seem like they would probably become far too mundane after repeated play-time. As for the Mii-characters-balancing-on-a-ship mode, people must work together to row safely through rock-filled rapids, or float upwards through space, avoiding deadly asteroids along the way by one player tugging the other in a particular direction, and vice versa when required. There is plenty of variety included, and great potential for laughs a-plenty, yet reservations as to how quickly the whole title would become boring.

Extra Thoughts

Despite the Wii’s status as a party console, the Mario Party series has only seen one Wii instalment — Mario Party 8 — since the console’s launch. Now it looks as though Wii Party will be taking over where the Italian plumber and his friends left off. The game’s setup is the same: up to four players (with computer-controlled characters filling in for any absentees) rush around a game “board”, playing mini-games with each other as they go, only this time it’s Miis doing the rushing, not Mario.

The mini-games I tried were all very light endeavours. One (a Mario Party staple) saw players rolling around in balls trying to knock each other into holes in the floor. Another involved flicking the Wii Remote in order to jump over obstacles, shaking the controller to hover in a Yoshi-esque fashion for a brief time. Neither were anything to write home about, but both were suitably enjoyable with a companion (a Nintendo rep in this instance) to play against. Both would almost certainly be more entertaining with a full set of players, too.

As Adam mentioned previously, another problem with having less than four players is it forces you to watch the progression of CPUs as they roll dice (achieved by shaking the Wii Remote for humans) and move about the board/game world. Combine this with the heavily luck-based nature of the game and Wii Party could conceivably become highly frustrating in the absence of a jovial group of players. If you’re predominantly a solo player, then, first impressions suggest you might want to steer clear of this one.
Karn Bianco, Previews Editor.