Link's Crossbow Training

In the E3 2006 Convention or later on, a Wii peripheral was displayed to the masses.  It was the Zapper add-on for the Wii remote that resembled the NES Zapper back in the day.  At the 2007 E3 Nintendo Press Conference Nintendo unveiled the final design of the Wii Zapper and most of us were scratching our heads on why Nintendo redesigned the peripheral.  In November 2007 I bought the Wii Zapper along with the game “Link’s Crossbow Training” that came bundled with it and I must tell you, it is a perfect way to enjoy the Wii Zapper.  So without further ado, let me start the review…

Graphics:

It’s the same as Twilight Princess.  In some levels you can see the polygon work on trees, mountains, enemies, and other things when you get close to them.  Nintendo should’ve polished this game a bit, but despite this it’s still stunning to look at, especially in the Desert and Snow areas.

Sound:

Most of the game’s soundtrack was borrowed from Twilight Princess.  Even though the music is MIDI, it’s probably the best MIDI music I’ve ever heard on any game, especially in the Shootout, Snowpeak, City in the Sky, and Temple of Time levels.  Thank you Koji Kondo, my favorite VG music composer.

Game Types:

There are three game types: Target Shooting, Defender, and Ranger.  In Target Shooting, you shoot targets within the time limit: Red ones give you normal points, Gold ones give you more points, and Bull’s Eyes on red or gold targets give you even more points.  Consecutive hits (which means to shoot targets simultaneously without missing, giving you a combo until you miss your target) give you more points while the Blue X targets, when it, will lose some of your points including your combo.  My rating for Target Shooting: 7.0 out of 10 since we’ve seen this all before in previous target shooting games.  In Defender, you shoot enemies within the time limit: Move the pointer to aim and turn.  Consecutive hits give you more points.  If you get hit by an enemy, you lose points. My rating for Defender: 8.0 out of 10 because it is just heart-pumping when there are enemies up close and come after you very fast.  And finally, in Ranger, you have to complete objectives in certain stages.  Control Link with the control stick (nunchuk) while aiming with the pointer.  I prefer to use the nunchuk without it attached to the Wii Zapper (which is optional since there are two ways to play the Wii Zapper: nunchuk attached or separate to/from the Zapper).  And if you succeed in killing all of your enemies, you’ll earn a bonus (just like the other modes too I’ve mentioned earlier) for your effort.  And yeah, you’ll earn consecutive hits if you precisely hit your enemies.  My rating for Ranger: 9.0 out of 10 since this will give you an idea of how first-person shooters (or third-person perspective) will feel, but there is limited amount of button configuration since you only use the B, C, and Z buttons, the pointer, and the control stick in Crossbow Training since there aren’t any nunchuk controls you can use in the game.  (You can use the A button, but that is used to pause the game.)

Game Play:

You can have up to 8 game files saved in this game.  There are 9 levels, each level containing 3 stages = 27 stages all together.  In order to unlock new levels, you need to earn a certain amount of medals to access them, mostly by earning 20,000 points by the level’s 3 stages combined, earning you a bronze medal (40,000 will give you a silver medal and 60,000 for a gold one).  With so many stages, most of them are pretty short, ranging from 60 to 90 seconds, and all of the stages are timed.  Just like I’ve mentioned earlier, if you shoot most or all of your targets before time runs out, you’ll earn bonus points (depending on how fast and accurate you shoot your targets will give you more points).  In all of the stages you have unlimited arrows.  But for Automatic Arrows, you only have a limited amount of ammo and they shoot faster than regular arrows (good for shooting many enemies and earning quick combos).  You can only get this by shooting flashing green enemies and the maximum is 100 and they deplete very quickly, so shoot wisely.  And finally, the Exploding Arrows let you shoot enemies or targets instantly by holding the B button until your cursor turns orange and then release to kill your targets quickly (if you are surrounded with a lot of enemies during the heat of battle or want to rack up your score a bit).

Multiplayer:

Up to four players can play in multiplayer, and you only need to use one Wii Zapper to play this mode.  Choose the stage and the number of players.  You can either choose the Link Icons or you can use your Mii as a data file.  Unfortunately, the only thing the Mii avatar does is shows your stats and won’t appear in the game’s stages (it’s only purpose is for it to be displayed with your score on the game’s screen) other than Link. Once the player is done playing their round, he or she will pass the Wii Zapper to the next player.  Once the game set is finished, the results will show which players won, earning them a star for their victory.  Unfortunately the stars you’ve earned in multiplayer won’t be saved (as far as I know) to your Mii’s file.  This is good as a party game if you have more people playing the multiplayer mode, which has a high replay value.

Link’s Crossbow Training’s sole purpose is to let you get the hang of the Wii Zapper’s control mechanic and the game does a very good job doing it.  You can play the game without the Wii Zapper, but what’s the point in doing that?  Games like Medal of Honor and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles will help the Wii Zapper during the Wii’s lifespan in the years to come.  By the time you fully master Link’s Crossbow Training, you will also master the Wii Zapper and all its glory and innovation.  So aim, shoot, and have fun!