Nintendo Land is shaping up to be the Wii U's version of Wii Sports.  The title will feature 12 minigames that utilise the Wii U GamePad in a number of ways and also give some enjoyable examples of asymmetrical gaming, which Nintendo seems keen to push.

Five minigames were available in the version we played and impressions of all of them are available below.

Takamaru’s Ninja Castle

You may be wondering who on earth Takamaru is. His only previous appearance was in a Famicom game, Nazo no Murasame-jō, which never made it outside of Japan. Because of this, his inclusion in Nintendo Land seems a bit odd, but the mini game he has been brought back for is a lot of fun.

In Takamaru’s Ninja Castle, the player must hold the GamePad rotated in the palm of their hand, with the control stick towards the television. Players must then use their fingers to slide ninja discs from the screen to destroy oncoming enemies in the game field. To aim, you move the GamePad, and the faster you swipe, the faster the disc will fly.

The art style reflects that seen in the other games, with a wooden toy look to the ninja enemies. These baddies will be doing a variety of things to try and remove you of your three lives, including knife and bomb throwing, while boss characters will charge towards you to attack with their sword.

There is something very addictive and fun about this game, although the level on show lasted for just a short time. Once completed, you are given a score based on how many ninjas you slayed, and how accurate your disk slinging was. Hitting multiple targets in a row without missing will increase your combo score. Takamaru’s Ninja Castle really shows off the motion controls in the GamePad, and I hope that in the final version, there will be more levels available to play, making Nintendo Land also worth it as a single player offering.

Donkey Kong Crash Course

Crash Course looks like it could be a big, complex level from the original Donkey Kong platformer, but in reality what we have here is a game of skill in which you must carefully tilt the GamePad to guide your “car” through the course as quickly as possible.

Simple right? Not really. Your vehicle is extremely fragile, so go too fast, or even too slow at some points, and you will tip over and be forced to return to your last checkpoint. Because speed will give you a higher score, it may lead you to making rash decisions, but with this game, care is key and practice will make perfect. Lots of slopes will force you to gain speed to ascend them, with you then having to frantically re-align the GamePad so you don’t go flying into a wall.

I was useless at this in my short time with the game, only reaching a few checkpoints out of the 18 on the selected course. I was assured though that several people had managed to reach the end. Although the GamePad shows your vehicle closer than it does on the main screen, which shows the overall map, the main thing this game is designed to show off are the tilt controls.

Donkey Kong Crash Course will undoubtedly frustrate you, but will have you saying “I’ll just have one more go” over and over again.

Animal Crossing: Sweet Day

If Nintendo want to use Nintendo Land to show off exactly what the Wii U GamePad can do, Animal Crossing: Sweet Day certainly ticks that box. Four players must use Wii Remotes while another player can take on the role of two guards. The guards can be controlled independently using the Wii U GamePad's two analogue sticks, although it will take some practice before you can control these independently.

The other four players must run around collecting sweets, with the aim being to collect 50. This may sound fairly easy but in reality it is pretty tricky.

The sweet collectors are given a ten second head start and you'll soon learn that you need some kind of team tactic. Dotted around the level are trees that contain sweets, but in order to get them you need to stand on switches. Some trees only require one person but the majority need two or three, meaning you must work together to win.

As you eat more sweets your head becomes larger and you slow down. You can drop sweets to increase your speed so quite often people will frantically expel sweets as they try and escape the guards.

Promotional videos for these types of games always feature people shouting and laughing as they work together and it seems corny, but it comes naturally in a game such as Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. Teamwork really is essential and the asymmetric gameplay really works well. This is bound to be a game enjoyed by groups of all ages.

Luigi's Ghost Mansion

Luigi's Ghost Mansion is another five-player title that once again sees the Wii U GamePad owner having to take on a team of four others. The gameplay is, in ways, similar to Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. The four Wii Remote holders must work together as a team because working alone tends to result in death.

The single player controls the ghost and can see the other players using the Wii U GamePad, while everyone else can't see the ghost. The goal for the four players is to survive, which once again sounds easier than it actually is.

The four survivors have a flashlight that they can use to scare aware the ghost if it comes near. However, if you use it too much your battery drains and you must pick up another.

If a player is caught by the ghost others can scare the ghost away with their light, providing their closeby. If the player is killed then others can revive them by shining their light on their lifeless body, although this soon drains a lot of your battery and leaves you vulnerable to attack.

Due to this players must quickly learn to work in teams if they have any chance of surviving. I played Luigi's Ghost Mansion a few times and very rarely did the ghost lose, proving that a strong team ethic needs to be in place.

The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest

Unlike the other games on show this required three players, with one person holding the Wii U GamePad and two others using Wii Remotes. The player holding the Wii U GamePad was in control of a bow while the others could use swords.

This on-the-rails game sees you and others trying to make your way through the level, killing enemies and hitting switches along the way.

Once again a team effort is in order as enemies soon start coming thick and fast and if you're not careful your teammate will die and you have to start again.

I only played with the Wii U GamePad and thus I was in control of the bow and arrow. You hold the Wii U GamePad toward the screen and use it as a viewfinder. Flicking the analogue stick fires and arrow while holding the Wii U GamePad down reloads your arrows.

It is simple to control but difficult to master. In the few attempts I tried I never finished the level, although that could say more about me than the game's difficultly.

The art style is interesting, looking like a knitted version of The Legend of Zelda come to life, and proves that you don't need to have ultra-realistic graphics to show off the system's power.

Takamaru’s Ninja Castle and Donkey Kong Crash Course sections written by Paul Muchmore.