Friday, December 21, 2007

Nintendo Wii Zapper and various compatible games






- $25. Comes with the plastic wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training.
- The zapper is pretty well designed. Everything fits nicely together, and cables are hidden and managed really well. The trigger works fine. I just wish it was further back like in a typical gun instead of way up front.
- The biggest appeal of light gun games for me has always been the ability to use the actual sights on the gun for aiming. There usually isn't a big crosshair on the screen. In stead it took some actual skill and psuedo realistic aiming of the light gun to do well. With the zapper there are no sights. So basically all the games have a big crosshair you move around on screen shooting from the hip. It's almost like playing a light gun game on the PC with a mouse. It just doesn't pull you in as much. Having said that it's MUCH MUCH easier for younger kids. But for adults who grew up on Virtua Cop, Time Crisis, and House of the Dead series this is a pretty big disappointment. Somebody needs to make a more realistic light gun (maybe ditch the wiimote entirely and make a true 3rd party light gun controller) that has real gun sights.

Link's Crossbow Training
- This is a great little game that really makes the wii zapper worth getting. You basically have 9 levels each with 3 stages. The first stage is always some sort of target practice, the second is defend, and the third lets you move around using the nunchuck. This game is great for younger kids.
- There are a tone of hidden targets to find and shoot. Not missing lets you chain up a big score multiplier and is key to doing well. You can also charge up your shot for a bigger blast.
- Throw in a few boss battles, and it's a great little game.
- We finished this game pretty quickly though.
- No simultaneous two player. It's just take turns.
- Great price.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
- I've only finished the first level.
- I think I find it more comfortable to play without the zapper. You can configure the controls to either use the zapper or not.
- Nice selection of weapons which you can upgrade.
- Lots of breakable items in the environment with hidden goodies.
- Supports two player co-op.
- A nice rail light gun shooter more for the adults. I need to spend some more time with it to get a better impression. This is one of the meatier zapper games currently out for the wii.

Ghost Squad
- Now this is my kind of game. This is classic Sega light gun game similar to Virtua cop. Embrace the glorious campy cheesy aspect of it all!
- Some difficulty and immersion lost b/c of lack of gun sights and a big crosshair on the screen.
- up to 4 players on the same screen at the same time or how about two people dual wielding!
- A few branches for replay.
- Variety of weapons.
- Cheap 2nd level end boss.
- Pretty darn short.
- Plays great even without the zapper.
- Ninja mode!
- Graphics won't impress but are pleasantly retro.

I hear Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 is suppose to have great controls and a rail shooter mode. I might have to go pick it up.

Overall I recommend the zapper and all the games. There really is something for any light gun enthusiast. Now, lets see some ports of all the old classic light gun games!

UPDATE: 9/28/08
I highly recommend the nyko wii perfect shot over the official wii zapper.

4 comments:

sedativechunk said...

Great Post man, I ran across your site looking for some compatible games for the Wii Zapper, as I'm looking into either buying it or a different gun that works better.

Kind of dissapointed about the lack of a sight on the gun, but maybe one of the other guns has it!

Anonymous said...

Get one of the non-nintendo ones. I just got myself a "PEGA" brand gun. The rear part that holds the nunchuck is detachable, the wii mote can look more like a handgun.

The only thing that wasn't great about this gun was that you have to pull the trigger back a fair bit before a shot goes off. I simnple fixed it by opening the gun housing (just four simple screws) and wedged a quarter at the front part of the gun. Easy! Now the gun works like a charm and I can fire consecutive shots without cramping my finger.

The PEGA gun has a sight. I've used it on Ghost Squad. I turned of the on-screen reticule and the sight on the gun worked fabulously!

So, get yourself an after-market gun like the PEGA or NYCO guns.

Dang... just can't wait for something like PointBlank or Time Crisis to come out for the wii!!! That would be so awesome.

ARogan said...

I like this much much better: http://blog.arogan.com/2008/03/nyko-wii-perfect-shot.html

Kiara said...

Awesome! Pseudo gun, pretty cool, my nephews will gonna like this, dude. They love shooting games from the Download Games that I have. cool!