Summary
Point and Click lives on!
The Good
Zack & Wiki is a great game. It's fun to play. And thanks to an segmented design, has made the infamous Point & Click puzzles of the past, accessible to those who just want to sit down for 15 minutes.
Whilst the game makers, and professional reviewers would have you believe that the puzzles are difficult, you can basically put them into two categories: The Logical, and the Insta-Kill.
The logical puzzles I didn't find too hard. As a Software Developer by trade, if help to be good at problem solving. They weren't difficult but they were very enjoyable, and even made me chuckle from time to time at the outcome. A younger audience may have a more challenging time. There were even some levels featuring multiple ways to solve a problem, if only to gain more HQ points.
The way you solve each level requires use of different tools scattered about. Some tools are actually animals, that can be defeated (and turned into a tool) by shaking your flying monkey companion, Wiki. He'll turn into a bell, in case you're wondering, which also banishes demons.
Each action requires a gesture from the Wiimote. You'll be sawing, throwing, hitting, filling, pouring, rocking, turning, and all manner of actions to get stuff done. It's fun, but it would have been nice if the game let you figure out what needs to be done.
The graphics are very nice, bright, colourful. And likewis the sound and music. The whole game seems a celebration of Point & Click adventures. You get HQ points every time you solve a puzzle, or use a particular item; your score bettered if you perform it perfectly, first time. It's fun watching your bunny pirate crew dance on screen with banners and confetti! It's not just crazy, it's over the top Japanese crazy - and I love it!
There are a few secrets to find, such as Tokens in the shape of old Capcom game sprites. And the best secret is finding the music maestro of Barbaros' crew. He's a skull on the floor in some levels, and waking him up by shaking the monkey, activates a rhythm game. Essentially his ruff turns into a record; you must use your Wiimote as you would a bell and shake at the right times. The music is from Capcom's old games (I actually squealed in delight when I heard the infamous Ghost & Goblins theme). This adds a nice distraction, some are more difficult that others, but really is addictive!
The Bad
As mentioned in The Good, There are two kinds of puzzles in this game. Now for the Insta-Kills.
The Insta-Kill puzzles, were just that: Step too far close to something = Death. Pick up something = Death. Get the order wrong in solving puzzles = Restart Level. Go through the wrong door = Beaten up, restart the level. It wasn't that they were frustrating, it's that they are the complete opposite of the logical puzzles: Trial and Error.
I was expecting a challenging game focused on logical solutions; like a Sudoku: difficult, but solvable. The Insta-Kills grow in frequency, and it tends to be the hardest rated levels that contain the most. It's sad that this quantifies the difficultly. These kinds of puzzles may put off the younger audience its visuals seem to appeal to.
There are ways around these kinds of puzzles: Tickets to take you back in time seconds before you did what you did to get killed, and Dolls that you can trade in for tips. Using either will lower your score for the level, and new ones cost increasingly more - so it's often better to start the level from scratch. Of course, neither Tickets or Dolls would be necessary, had there been no illogical puzzles.
There's not much of a story, but enough to see how it all turns out. I would have preferred something more in depth, but it doesn't exactly spoil the fun, or atmosphere.
One annoying design feature, mentioned in The Good, was that even though you may be half way through the game, or have used every tool or object, and have basically mastered any Wiimote gesture you'll need, the game still shows you how you should hold the damn controller. It's bad enough having a rather large diagram in the top-right of the screen, but the flow of the game is also interrupted with a larger version of said diagram before. every. action.
Even if you've already done it several times that same level. It's not ruinous, just annoying, and I would have preferred an option in the menu to disable any help, and let me figure out how to use something. There's only so many ways you can use a hammer, or a saw!
The Bottom Line
A fantastic game, by any ones standards. It's sad that the only bad points stem from a lack of courage to make it more than it is.
- The Puzzles are great, but in places just lazy (Insta-Kills).
- The Wiimote is put to good use, but the game makes sure you know how to use it each, and every time.
- The visuals are charming and fun, but are bound to put off a more hard-core audience.
- The levels are a good way to get the casual gamer involved, but a more serious Point & Clicker, may not appreciate such disjointed play.
Make of that what you will. This game isn't sure who it's target audience is, but all ages will get loads of fun from it.
