It's been a while since I've turned on my Nintendo Wii. I've played through Zelda and an assortment of mini games, but nothing much (save Metroid) has caught my interest in a while. Capcom changed that with the wonderful Zach & Wiki. While I haven't finished the game, I've played enough to give it a glowing review. If for some strange reason it falls apart toward the end, i'll update this review, but I have confidence that won't happen.
Zach & Wiki is a point and click adventure. If you can remember playing those old point and click adventure/puzzle games like Curse of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and my personal favorite The Adventures of Willy Beamish, You're going to feel right at home. In Zach & Wiki, you don't control the character. You simply move the Wii Remote around the screen and push the A button on any space or object you want Zach to interact with. When Zach interacts with an object, the point of view changes and an illustration will pop up on the screen alerting the player as to how they are supposed to hold the controller. These activities vary from simple things like pulling a lever or sawing down a tree to things like focusing a magnifying glass or rotating and placing puzzle pieces on a wall. Think Wario Ware and you'll have an idea as to how many different ways Capcom has come up with to use the Wii Remote. Controlling Zach is a breeze and most of the special controls work very well. There are a few things that are very wonky, but they don't happen often and when they do it's but a brief misstep.
Zach's sidekick Wiki is more than just the comic relief in this very humerous game. He also can be transformed into a bell by simply shaking the remote. When you ring a bell next to an enemy or object, it is transformed into a different, useful object which can be used somewhere in the level. Centipedes change into Centi-Saws, Frogs into Frog Bombs, bats into Bat-Brellas... there are over 100 different objects to discover. There isn't combat per se, but there are definitely enemies that need to be outsmarted, and there are many different ways to go about it.
The gameplay mechanics are very easy to pick up an play, but that doesn't mean this is a children's game (despite the exceptional cel shaded graphics.) Zach & Wiki gets tough quickly. Each stage has a single treasure chest which you need to guide Zach to, and that process could take anywhere from a couple minutes to nearly an hour. Every area has a boss fight which can really test your puzzle solving limits. There is a certain amount of trial an error in this game, but that's just par for the course. Point and click adventures have been like that forever and some of the funniest moments are seeing the wacky ways which Zach is foiled when he makes a mistake.
There aren't really many downsides to this game. Any complaints I have are nit-picky (Occasional wonky controls, lack of substantial voice acting, limited replay, and a nearly useless multi-player option which allows a second person to point at the screen but perform no actions) and don't detract from the gameplay.
At just $39.99, Zach & Wiki is an absolute must own for fans of the point and click genre. I'd go so far as to say that Zach & Wiki is a must own for everyone with a Wii, but it may be a bit too challenging for younger gamers. No one will have troubles controlling the game, but the puzzles will stump people. Luckily, there is a built in hint system (Just hit the 1 button on the controller) which will get you through any problems you may have, but will cost you quite a few points at level's end and probably force you to replay earlier levels so you can get more coins to purchase more hints.
9/10
Mahalo,
Duke