NOT
More People, More Fun
Despite being able to play on your own for 9 of the 12 stages, Nintendo Land seems heavily dependent on playing with multiple people. Games like Takumaru’s Ninja Castle is okay to play on your own, but I had a LOT more fun trying to score better than my friends. Other games like Octopus Dance uses the camera to display your face on the screen, which is obviously geared towards a room, then playing on your own (even though it’s a solo event). As far as the remaining 3 events (Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, Mario Chase, Animal Crossing: Sweet Day), you pretty much need 3 or more people to get any sort of enjoyment out of it. Having played Animal Crossing: Sweets Day with 5 people and Mario Chase with another, I can flat out tell you they’re a completely different experience.
When you play with 5 people your focus is divided, so there is a bit more thrill in the chase. You never know when or if the gamepad player is going to chase you down (which is the gist of how all these 3 games work), which in turn adds tension for you and difficulty for the gamepad player. However, if you’re playing with 2 or 3 people, then things are a lot more difficult and ultimately less enjoyable. In Mario Chase I could only go after my friend, which led to us seeing if we could outrun the other for 2 minutes. Since there doesn’t seem to be a way to add AI to the mix, many people will never get the full experience out of these games, since it can be difficult to find 4 other people looking to play with. Additionally many of these games have “extra” requirements, so you need up to 3 motion plus controllers/adaptors for Zelda Battle Quest, up to 4 motion plus controller/adaptors and nunchucks for Metroid Blast, which is something to keep in mind.
Starting Tutorials
When you first start up Nintendo Land, you’re greeted with a number of trivial and pointless tutorials. These can’t be skipped and really just explain the basics of the gamepad, plus some minor things you might not know (like how to obtain gifts). These tutorials will persist roughly 3 – 4 more times with different elements being introduced. While I wouldn’t normally complain about this type of tutorial since the mini game ones are fantastic, but if you invite your friend(‘s) over to play the first time, it’s bound to wear thin fast.
Verdict
While Nintendo Land is a very fun and diverse game, you really need other people to get the most out of it. The battle games are too easy/stressful with a limited number of people and many of the solo games are geared around this. Naturally this holds many of the games back, but the team-up titles are a blast due to them playing like the source material. In the end, Nintendo Land really should have been free for all and honestly won’t be worth your money unless you host a lot of parties or are a HUGE Nintendo fanatic.
[Editor’s Note: Nintendo Land was reviewed on the Wii U platform. The game was provided to us by the developer for the purpose of the review.]