Zack & Wiki
Third-party support for Nintendo consoles is nowhere near the level it was – once upon a time. While the Wii is inundated with minigame compilations, licensed crapware, and half-hearted Wii Sports clones, Sony and Microsoft have continued to command the lion’s share of quality third-party development. And then along came Zack & Wiki, a new intellectual property by Capcom which caused critics and Wii-owners alike to dare to believe that not all hope is lost. Indeed, Capcom’s effort stands out as one of the Wii’s best third-party releases of 2007.
Zack & Wiki is a cel-shaded puzzler that conducts you through a wide variety of environments as you track down valuable artifacts and treasure. The cartoonish art style belies what turns out to be a very satisfying challenge as you navigate through each stage by using items and your surroundings to reach the treasure chest at the end. To succeed, you’ll have to avoid not only natural hazards such as falling rocks and giant gorillas, but also hidden traps and the members of an enemy pirate band led by Captain Rose (with the occasional appearance of the lead villainess herself). Make no mistake, this game was intended for adults, and no amount of cel-shading should scare you away from it.
First, it should be noted that the game takes full advantage of the Wii remote’s control features, and it’s no cheap cash-in effort; the Zack & Wiki team crafted the control scheme as carefully as you’d expect from Nintendo’s own developers, and their hard work has paid off. You won’t even need the nunchuk attachment – Zack moves about the screen in a point-and-click manner thanks to the remote’s IR pointer, and for almost every remaining action you can perform in game, you’ll utilize the motion sensors in one way or another. When you shake the remote, Zack grabs Wiki (who transforms into a bell) by the tail and gives him a good shake of his own. The bell’s ring has various effects that don’t take long to discover. If you need to fit an oddly-shaped block into a similarly-shaped hole, you will rotate the remote around until the block is oriented correctly. To pull a lever, hold the remote vertically in front of you and then pull it backward. It doesn’t feel contrived at all, though once in awhile you will run into a puzzle that takes a few tries due to slight imperfections in the controls.
The graphics are rich and colorful – somewhat reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, but more detailed. The stage types range from deep jungles and tall mountains to bright snowfields and rumbling volcanic craters. Each area has its own personality and never gives off the impression that you’re being shortchanged visually. Animations are smooth and designed to accentuate the game’s light humor.
In the realm of sound, Zack & Wiki scores again. The music fits wonderfully with each group of stages – it’s not an outstanding soundtrack by any means, but since it’s so appropriate to the game, you won’t really notice. And although the game’s dialog must be read onscreen, there is voice-acting after a fashion; several characters have cutesy grunts during cut scenes, a fact which turns out surprisingly more amusing than annoying, partly because the range of different sounds is wide enough that it almost sounds as though they’re speaking another language.
If the game has any flaws (as all games do), the most glaring is that it will probably never see the success it deserves. New IPs can be hard to get off the ground anyway, but the sheer absence of marketing effort remains a definite mistake on Capcom’s part. Aside from that, most of the annoyances come from minor glitches in the control scheme – either a point-and-click movement sending Zack in a different direction from what the player intended, or having to fight a handful of the waggle controls that weren’t quite perfected. Fortunately, you won’t run into those problems enough to ruin your enjoyment of the game.
Ultimately, Zack & Wiki merits a purchase from any Wii owner who enjoys mind-bending puzzles. It’s an amazing third-party release – not only the first such game to take full advantage of the remote in a non-gimmicky manner, but also the first to provide a truly entertaining experience on a console that has been consistently Nintendo-dominated in the software realm. It would’ve been nice if we’d seen some kind of marketing, considering the quality contained in the package. But that simply means it’s up to us to spread the word.
| Graphics | 8.5 | The art style is beautiful, both in terms of cel-shading and animation. Particle effects abound, and there are some hidden 8-bit treats for longtime gamers. |
|---|---|---|
| Sound | 7.5 | The music isn’t anything special, but it fits the game perfectly. Some sound effects come through too loudly, and character voices, while cute, might get on some people’s nerves after awhile. |
| Experience | 9.5 | The opening sequence is too long, but things run pretty quickly after that. Most cutscenes can be skipped (which is good since you’ll probably have to repeat a few levels more than once). Controls are outstanding and you’ll find no lack of challenging puzzles. |
| Lasting Value | 7.5 | The game is definitely worth multiple playthroughs (some stages have more than one solution, and there are extra trophies you can pick up that aren’t necessary for completion). The puzzles won’t be as challenging the second time through, though. |
| Overall: 8.9 (Not an average) | ||
