digibutter.nerr

[Francis]

UPDATE: I recently adjusted some settings on my HDTV, and found that it improved things dramatically. If your TV supports it, make sure you turn on "Game Mode" so that it compensates for any lag. Any lag at all makes the Wii Zapper really hard to use. I modified my review, and replaced the cryptic scores with my donut scores

I just picked up the Wii Zapper, which comes with Link's Crossbow Training. I also got Ghost Squad, which should makes good use of the Zapper too. In this topic I review all three.
Just to let you know... I love lightgun games. I own the NES Zapper (pre-orange), Super Scope 6, and Lethal Enforcers.

The Zapper

The Zapper is a plastic shell that you dock your remote and nunchuck into. They can be inserted and removed easily (much easier than the Guitar Hero guitar). You must take off the Wii remote Jacket first though (as if anyone actually used those).

I think that they should have used a different name, This is not really anything like the original NES zapper.
But I guess "Wii Remote-Nunchuck Combiner" doesnt sound as good.
A) you have to hold it with two hands (well, you dont have to, but its not accurate at all with one hand).
B) the Wii Remote is not as accurate as a light gun. Its really hard (almost impossible) to aim without watching the cursor. The gun does not shoot exactly where you point it. Its hard to have pinpoint accuracy since you cant make really fine movements. Its a little "jumpy".
C) There is no satisfying spring sound. The trigger is soft and silent.

Another small annoyances are that you have to reach up to the top of it to hit A button when navigating through the menus. The Wii Menu doesnt let you use any other button.

After quite a few play tests through a couple different games built for the Wii Zapper... I have concluded that the Wii Zapper offers no advantage to using the Remote by itself. All it really does is give you the feeling of holding a gun instead of a remote, but it is slightly more tiring to hold since you cant rest both hands on your lap.
Score: Glazed Donut (meh)

Link's Crossbow Training
(which I think is the only Link game without Zelda in the title)
This is basically a series of shooting galleries set in the world of Twilight Princess. You play various "shoot the targets" stages and try to beat the scores to get medals to unlock more levels. Some stages require you to run around with the nunchuck too while shooting enemies. I tell ya it is very satisfying to mow down stalfoses (stalfosi?) with an automatic crossbow.

Presentation/Graphics:
Good, all the stages take place in areas from Twilight Princess, with the same graphics. Its nice to revisit this land and see it from a different perspective. Some stages have you re-live scenes from Twilight Princess and even fight a few bosses. Nice clean basic menus with a Wii Sports look and feel. Each Mii can keep its own scores. Widescreen and 480p supported. The multi-player mode is disappointing: you just alternate turns
Gameplay:
You point at the screen and shoot things as fast and accurately as possible. Just don't expect to be blasting away easily... it requires patience and a steady hand. Hitting bullseye takes a lot of extra concentration, and sometimes you have to press a button to Zoom in to get far away targets. The game lets you adjust some cursor settings, so I suggest you set the speed all the way to the lowest setting. Its much more accurate at low speeds.
I did like there is a ton of stuff to shoot in the backgrounds (they make it real tempting to shoot the chickens!) The stages I like the least are the ones where have to pan around a room by moving your cursor off the screen.

Overall, Links Crossbow Training is the best pack-in game since Wii Sports. It is much better than Wii Play. A few more features would have been nice, like simultaneous multiplayer and online rankings, but for $20, this game with the Wii Zapper is a great deal!
Score: Chocolate Iced donut (you'll like it)

Ghost Squad

If you have been to the Arcade in the last few years, you probably have seen Ghost Squad. The successor to VirtuaCop, its full of non stop action from beginning to end. Well now, Ghost Squad is available for Wii. I picked it up knowing that it would be a good test for the Wii Zapper and it was cheap ($30).

Presentation/Graphics
Typical cheesy Arcadeness here. Bright menus complete with a timer. Put in your name, choose your mission, and you are off to save the president. The graphics are kinda bland, but its a direct port of the three year old game, so whatever, they get the job done. Some lame dialog and cut scenes which thankfully you can skip. One major downer is that it does not support Widescreen, probably because the original was in 4:3.
Lasting Appeal
The game is really short, you get three missions and thats it, over in less than hour. There are reasons to keep playing though... branching paths, unlocking crazy stuff, and submitting your highscores online. But you may not be playing this much unless some friends come over... it supports 4 players. Everyone loves a good shooter the first couple times through.
Gameplay
Surprisingly, the aiming in Ghost Squad is better than Link's Crossbow Training. The cursor is faster and more accurate. The Wii Zapper also feels better for this game, I'm not sure why though. Enemies generally take one hit to kill, except for the red dudes and bosses. There are various weapon upgrades you find by shooting random stuff in the environment. One gripe I have is that when I move the cursor off the left side of the screen to reload, when I come back in the cursor is waaay off, and I have to go off the other side to get it back to normal. I found that I have better success reloading to the right or straight down.

Overall, its a really fun game that provides an excellent mindless shooting experience. Its just really short, so you might want to look into Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles instead, or wait for the House of the Dead compilation. $30 is a decent price though, and it makes a great party game.
Score: Glazed Donut with Sprinkles (meh, but has some good points)

So, there is my review of my experience with the Wii Zapper lineup. There are a few other compatible games like RE:UC and Medal of Honor 2. Hopefully we will see a new surge of lightgun games, and hopefully they can fine tune the remote's accuracy. But, as for the Zapper itself, it doesn't do much except for give you the feeling of holding a gun.

[Alexio]

Nice review. Still trying to figure out your scoring though .

[Flavio]

Francis, your methods of rating games confuses Flavio...

[Francis]

Sorry, maybe I should go back to my donut rating system.

Anyways, I forgot to mention that all the Zapper games can be played without the actual Zapper.

[Sammer Guy Pizza Cat]

They must be good, if the ratings are coming from you, Francis, SORT OF! I mean, honestly, when will you provide us with a key, explaining what this new rating system means?

[Francis]

Geesh, I guess no one gets my jokes. Allow me to explain:
FLY AWAY out of a possible HIT - reference to Duck Hunt. HIT is when you hit a duck, FLY AWAY is when you dont. Hence the Wii Zapper is a miss.

Hiya! out of a possible Dah dah dah daaaaaaah! - reference to sounds in Zelda games. When Link does attacks he yells "hiya!" or something like that. "Dah dah dah" is the sound you get when you get a new item, signifying something really really good. So Im saying the game is a good attempt, but not amazing.

OK! out of a possible NEW RECORD! a reference to the cheesy arcade announcer sound bits. I should have used "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" instead of "OK". NEW RECORD means you did more than good, you beat the highscore! So I am saying this game met its goals, but is far from being the best.

I find review scores kinda useless. Everyone uses a different standard, and there is rampant "score inflation". So I try to spice it up a bit

[Flavio]

[INeedScissors61]

I think the Zapper's very nice. it's comfortable, accurate, and lloks nice. I agree that Crossbow training isn't a good fit, though. Wait till Nintendo makes games for it.

[Francis]

[Sammer Guy Pizza Cat]

Ah, I get it, now. So while the Wii Zapper itself is a sort of miss, the game that it came with is a really good accuracy-nailed target. Come December 1st, I'll celebrate the 1-Year Anniversary of my purchasing Twilight Princess, by getting the Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training.

[INeedScissors61]

I OWN it, so yes, I know what I'm talking about.

[Sam]

awesome. ghost squad looks cool, but I'll probably just get MoH 2 for the Wii... and of course, Link's CB Training.

[Geno]

My friend got the Wii Zapper, and it's not floaty at all...

And nice to see another with a pre-orange NES Zapper.

[Ike-Mike]

[Francis]