Nintendo Land

by Gregory Moffett

Christmas 2012 brought with it further proof that my brother was indeed turning into Santa Claus, bringing with it an outrageous level of generosity that I couldn’t hope to ever match.

The Wii U was the fresh new contender in the console wars but, unlike with the Gamecube and Wii before it, I was in no hurry to rush out and purchase it at launch. The price was a major factor, as was the perceived lack of essential software in the opening few weeks, but one of the main things that discouraged me initially was when I first got my hands on the Wii U Gamepad tethered to a demo kiosk at entertainment store HMV.

I had always associated Nintendo controllers with quality and comfort. I’ll always remember how amazing the Gamecube controller felt the first time I got to hold it. It was superb! The Wii U Gamepad, by comparison, was a huge disappointment. In the days when there was speculation as to what input method Nintendo’s new console would incorporate, I was apathetic towards the rumours of a potential 6-inch screen.

Unfortunately, my fears were to be compounded when my hands were met with discomfort during my first experience with the resultant controller when testing out the demo of Rayman Legends. It just didn’t feel right and I was genuinely worried about it.

Fast forward to Christmas Day and unwrapping the huge gift my brother had for me under the tree.

“I didn’t know what to get you!” he said.

Underneath the questionably wrapped paper was something I just couldn’t quite believe at the time. I was practically speechless as the box of the Deluxe 32GB Wii U slowly revealed itself, packaged with Nintendo Land. This was crazy! My brother even got New Super Mario Bros U to go along with the whole package. I couldn’t wait to play it, but wait I did.

The reason I waited was because I was well aware of the significant day one update and promptly got around to hooking up the console and downloading it as soon as possible on our relatively poor internet connection.

When I eventually got to play, Nintendo Land was the first port of call. Attractions such as Captain Falcon’s Twister Race, Yoshi’s Fruit Cart, Balloon Trip Breeze and Mario Chase were personal highlights but Donkey Kong Crash Course was the one that captured my heart the most in the beginning. Tilting the Wii U Gamepad to direct your vehicle through each checkpoint towards the final flag was highly addictive and certainly challenging. When finally making it to the end of the course, I was horrified, yet delighted, to see that this merely opened up yet another course to tackle!

The more I played it, the more I was getting to grips with it and the controller and breezing through sections that had previously seemed almost impossible to navigate. It was great fun taking it in turns with my brother, as was hunting each other in Luigi’s Ghost Mansion.

I also found myself to be very fond of Captain Falcon’s Twister Race, though was continually left frustrated by some form of interference causing the Wii U Gamepad to lose connection with the console. It only ever happened in this particular attraction and, for whatever reason, was accentuated when the Wii U was positioned vertically rather than horizontally. I’m genuinely not sure what it was, exactly, but thankfully the problem disappeared when I moved out into my own place several months later.



If I had one criticism, it would be that the largest attractions, based on The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Pikmin, never seemed quite as gratifying as many of the other solo attractions. Having said that, I still have several missions to tackle in each and it’s probably about time I returned to it, either by myself or in cooperation with my wife.

Nintendo Land may be a little underappreciated by many for not capturing the imagination of the public in the same way that Wii Sports had done previously but I, for one, find it to be an essential purchase on Wii U as there is loads of entertainment to be had and plenty of variety. It also helped me to understand the Wii U Gamepad, something I would eventually become extremely comfortable with it.