It’s no secret that the Wii U has had a pretty rocky launch. Third party developers haven’t found the risk of developing for the console worth the reward and so for the most part that’s left us with just first party titles to hold us over.
Wii Party U is one of the last releases Nintendo was able to push out by the holiday season but it’s certainly not the killer app that the Wii U needs right now.
Wii Party U features over 80 minigames, which is not to the game’s benefit. The game is a prime example of quantity over quality. Common games that you will see include: memorize something, make a random guess, don’t get hit by something, or do an action with the Wii remote faster than everyone else.
You can choose from several different modes to wrap around your minigame experience. These modes include things like a board game, a game where you try to knock a bunch of balls into a pit, or a single player dojo where you battle against of hordes of enemies. These modes are pretty much just there to string together mini games and their outcomes usually wind up being random no matter how well you perform.
Something I found particularly disappointing is how little mileage Wii Party U gets out of the Gamepad. The majority of the featured minigames only use Wii remotes, which greatly diminishes the unique experience the Wii U can give you and instead makes this feel no different than playing a normal Wii game.
Pair up the lack of Gamepad ingenuity with gameplay that feels like it belongs on the last generation of consoles and you have a pretty disappointing experience. I think we’ve gotten all the mileage we’re going to get out of the Wii remote, there aren’t any games here using it that you haven’t seen before in a slightly different package.
Arguably, the best games in Wii Party U are tucked away in the “House Party” section. These games usually rely on the gamepad and and feel more like proper party games than some of the other modes. Unfortunately, while games like Sketchy Situation and Name That Face are fun they’re also games you can play just as easily without any kind of electronic device slowing you down. I mean do you really need the Wii U to hold hands and dance around in a circle in your living room?
Wii Party U is also agonizingly slow. Some of the games take just a few seconds to play but will have a long drawn out explanation before them. The game’s mascot, Party Phil, is unbearable to listen to and it feels like he’s always around somewhere impeding you from getting to whatever game it is you’re trying to play.
The game also features “Gamepad Party” mode which has a small collection of games that are played exclusively on the gamepad which you can lay flat on a table with an included plastic attachment. While these games are at least taking advantage of the Wii U’s unique hook they’re not really all that fun, it’s not an experience any better than what you could have with the bigger brighter screen of an iPad.
As of this moment you can buy a Wii Motion Plus remote on Amazon for $35.00. Wii Party U is $50, which means you’re basically paying 15 dollars for the game, which is tough to justify. If you’re looking to show off your cool new Wii U to all your friends this isn’t the way to do it, just break out Nintendoland and show them that “Mario Chase” game again. We played the game with a fairly large group of people and it was largely decried by almost the entire room.
If you’re a Wii U owner then you might be starved enough to pick this up anyway, but I say save it until after you’re done with Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World.
