Wii U Impressions: Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 10, Rayman Legends and More!

While Nintendo has already been running Wii U Experiences around the states, this weekend’s Eurogamer was the first time in the UK that the public have been able to see what Nintendo’s new system has to offer, as part of their Wii U tour that’ll be attending various Expos and Conventions in the UK during the run up to the November 30th launch.

Nintendo have made sure everyone is catered for with the tour line up, including the European launch pack-ins ZombiU and Nintendo Land, and a smattering of launch window titles such as Rayman Legends, New Super Mario Bros. U, Darksiders II, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, The Wonderful  101, Trine 2, and a surprise last minute appearance by Pikmin 3. The 3DS also had a chance to shine with appearances from Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, and the crazily long-titled Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate.

I was lucky enough to have 4 days at Eurogamer, enough time to try almost everything available in Nintendo’s booth (exceptions being TTT2 which was hidden away, and ZombiU due to constant queues and lack of survival horror experience).

Pikmin 3

Pikmin 3 was a nice surprise for Eurogamer, announced a week before the Expo started. The title had appeared in video form at E3, but without a demo, making this the first time the game has been playable to the public. It was a timed 7 minute demo with a basic level (or the glass caterpillar boss fight from the initial trailer) but it’s enough time to make you fall in love with Pikmin all over again.

The game is the familiar formula that people know and love, playing a lot like the New Play Control versions of Pikmin 1 & 2, but making full use of the Wii U’s new power. The game looks gorgeous: the environment looks lush and very pretty to look at, the demo has metallic strawberries and glass walls that show off the fantastic lighting effects, and there are pretty woodland set-ups as well.

The demo takes place in a small wooded area, with mostly fruit items to collect. The demo was the only single-player game on show floor employing use of Wiimote for play, with the Gamepad currently only used as a Map. Oddly the demo hasn’t got the Pikmin Charge command implemented yet, so you have to chuck them about if you want them to follow any commands. Hopefully this is just due to early demo, as it slows progress and means it’s difficult to save Pikmin from a hungry Bulborb retaliation too.

The first major monster in the demo is a floating jellyfish-like monster, which when defeated give you the first batch of Rock Pikmin. The little fellas can take quite a beating with no trouble, making quick work of knocking down walls. They’ll even run up and start going at the walls themselves without command, though the damage is more minimal if they are left to it. They inflict more damage on enemies, and have a curious effect on the fire slugs populating the level, having an odd electrocuting or freezing effect that kills them off almost instantly (the red Pikmin also retain their fire resistance). There are also leaf-holding beetles, a nectar beetle and an anteater variant of the classic Bulborb monster – which will lick up Pikmin with its long tongue if you don’t keep your distance.

Despite the short experience, the demo left me wanting more, and I returned to replay it a few times, finding more new features each time. If the rest of the game is as fun as this small demo, it’ll be one to watch in 2013.

The Wonderful 101

I was wondering how to describe this game, when one of the exhibitors manning the stand came up with the perfect analogy for this title. The Wonderful 101 is what would happen if Viewtiful Joe and Pikmin got together and had a baby.  While Pikmin gives you direct simple control of your team, Wonderful 101 instead requires gesture control to make the most of your recruits, and expects quicker reactions to situations than Viewtiful Joe did.

The demo drops you right into the action after a quick review of the controls, and there’s a lot to take in initially. The game plays on the Gamepad, and you lead your team composed of various people. Using simple rush attacks, or battery items strewn during the level, you charge up your batteries, allowing you to use the gesture based “Unity” attacks. In the demo there are 3 to use – Unity Hand, Unity Sword and Unity Gun – and all are formed either by drawing your team in the line shown on the screen or using the R stick to form the shape required.

The Unity line mode is also used to collect more new recruits, which can comprise of civilians who need help, or dazed people (and even enemies) on the field. The more people in your superhero team, the bigger and more powerful the attacks get. Forming a huge Unity Sword to take down a bigger robot enemy is quite satisfying. The latter part of the level sees your team taking on enemies while dealing with a huge earthquake (which turns out to be a dormant giant robot that now is hell bent on destruction, forming the boss of the demo). The earthquake looks stunning even in the top down perspective the game uses. The robot boss offers a new Unity move, Unity Chain, which allows the team to cross long gaps as well.

The game is rapidly moving and there is a lot going on at any one time. The game grades you on how fast and well you deal with enemy waves in each major section, with coloured medals for average performance, up to Gold for a flawless performance. Chained Unity and Rush attacks are the key to a good score, as are use of tactical decisions. Pressing the triggers activates Unity Guts, which makes team form a pudding to absorb an attack; and Unity Dodge, which gets the team quickly out of harm’s way. Once you get the hang of the game, it’s a lot of fun, but pretty tricky to master.

Rayman Legends

Rayman Legends was high on my list, looking very pretty and running on the marvellous platform engine that Rayman Origins and Jungle Run use. It seemed like a shoe-in to be one of the best titles at launch, even despite the recent concerns about the single player mode. I was wrong: it turns out that Rayman Legends is even better than I expected.

There were 2 levels on hand for the demo, a general level and one of the “music” levels previously revealed at E3. Rayman Legends is a better experience with more people. Much like Origins, the manic action keeps people going and is a great laugh even if you fail or die by mistake. The music level was a lot of fun, despite the noise on show floor meaning the musical aspect couldn’t be appreciated as much. It’s good to know that even without the music these levels can still be enjoyed on their gameplay merit.

The game graphically looks better than Origins, and looks great in motion too, with very smooth and bouncy animation. Co-op is fun regardless if you happen to play as Murphy or Globox (Rayman himself seemed to be absent in the demo) – there’s plenty for Murphy Gamepad players to look out for and do to help their platforming buddies as the levels progress, be it helping to take out enemies or activating plants to release more Lums. While Murphy is an easier mode for less experienced players, there’s still an element of challenge in keeping up with players to activate objects or take out the enemies on time, though it’s possible for players to deal with problems themselves if need be. It’s still the high octane and pretty platforming experience that Origins was even after playing on Gamepad mode, and combined with the rather fantastic Jungle Run app on iOS (using a slightly different automatic run and jump scheme), Legends will still be one of the best titles at launch regardless how it plays.

Nintendo Land

DK Crash Course, Animal Crossing Sweet Day, Zelda Battle Quest

Nintendo Land is a curious title. It’s currently very multiplayer focused, though the ‘attractions’ all have different challenges to offer.  I managed to play 3 of the 5 titles on offer at the expo.

DK Crash Course is the most interesting of the 3, especially for those interested in a single-player experience. DK Crash offers a HUGE obstacle course for your barrel cart to traverse. Using tilt and trigger controls, the player operates different levers and platforms to navigate a barrel cart to safety. However, the barrel cart is somewhat fragile: run down some spots too fast and the cart will smash against the fall on impact, and going too slow will cause it to fall awkwardly and break too. Different obstacles are offered as the player ventures further down. For example, one obstacle required winding a moving loop to get the barrel to the next section. For high score chasers, it’s a perfect timewaster with plenty to keep players invested in it.

Animal Crossing Sweet Day is a potentially short but fun multiplayer chase. Four players participate in a race to collect the most sweets while dressed as Animal Crossing characters, their headpieces swelling as you collect more candy (also making you slower). The Gamepad player is ‘it’, controlling the two guards chasing the four players in order to make arrests. All 4 players have 3 shared lives, so cooperation is needed while racing to get candy in order to avoid capture. Several trees need more than one player to release its candy goods to boot. It’s great fun but in an expo environment is always going to be short, while players learn that no player can really be an island if they want to win.

Zelda Battle Quest seems like a deeper multiplayer experience, though is a challenge. It’s essentially a Zelda-on-rails battler, with players having to hack and slash their way through a route. Wiimote players use the trusty sword and shield, while the Gamepad player is given the more long range bow and arrow to help pick out enemies from a distance. It requires a certain level of teamwork and timing to avoid being overwhelmed by the enemy waves.

So far Nintendo Land is shaping up well, though the jury is out on whether it’ll be worth the investment for single-players as much as it currently is for multiplayer fans.

Bonus: Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon

Unannounced, this title crept into Nintendo’s Eurogamer line-up at last minute.  I completed and massively enjoyed the Gamecube original and was very excited to play the 3DS update.

The demo offers up the opening portion of the game, with Luigi warping to the mansion all Matrix-like, and being told by Professor E. Gadd to retrieve his Poltergust 5000 from the garage. Like the original game, there’s a lot of puzzle solving to do. Once Luigi gets the Poltergust, it’s time to explore the mansion while sucking up everything in sight. It has a lot of the charm of the original with the exploration theme, with plenty of hidden buttons and switches for Luigi to discover. Luigi seems a little braver: he still jumps at ghosts, but he’s more willing to take on the task of ghostbusting.

The controls are pretty easy to adapt to, the flashlight helping to make multiple ghost captures more easy. The demo also grants Luigi a new add-on to the Poltergust that allows for activation of green switches around the house, suggesting there will be more add-ons in the full title. 

The usual spooky goings-on are still here, with Luigi dealing with ghosts and spooky events in the house with his usual cowardly cries. So far the demo suggests the sequel will stay true to the original, with more funny goings-on to enjoy and hidden nooks and crannies with goodies yet to be discovered.

Everything else…

ZombiU was incredibly popular with the crowds at Eurogamer Expo, gaining a daily long queue of over an hour even on the quieter days of the Expo, when the Wii U titles were hitting half-hour waits at the very worst.  My play through was short due to lack of survival horror experience, fating me to an early death as Zombie chow. The game looks atmospheric and British players will get a kick out of exploring London during the Zombie Apocalypse.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask was playable, though the demo consisted of a short snippet of the story and a single puzzle. A panel swapping puzzle based around untangling a clown from his clutch of balloons. The new CGI scenes interspersed with 2D art portraits can be a little jarring, but looks like it’ll be another solid entry in the Layton series.

 Pokemon Black and White 2 showed up on the last day of the Expo, it’s refreshing starting the game in a new town, yet having the immediate familiarity of Bianca to help ease players back into the region of Unova.  Like the original, the new title has some great visual effects, and the graphical style updates look rather streamlined and dynamic.