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Wii Airplane

Finally we come to the black sheep of the Wii Sports package. Wii Airplane is a simplistic flight simulator that has you holding the Wii-mote like you would hold a paper airplane. The on screen airplane responds exactly to how you are holding the Wii-mote. If you tilt it downwards, the airplane will go into a nose dive. Tilt it left and right and the air plane will bank left or right allowing it to turn depending on how much you tilt the controller.

Tilt it upwards and the airplane will tilt its nose to the sky and fly upwards. A neat trick is that if you keep the controller pointed upwards, the airplane will eventually do a complete loop in the air. Finally, another little trick is to jab the Wii-mote forward for a speed boost.

The gameplay in the demo involved simply flying through a bunch of rings, which unfortunately, brings back very bad memories of the abysmal Superman 64. There is enough potential in the design of Wii Airplane to make for some very interesting gameplay possibilities. Throw in some weapons and you will have a very solid aerial dogfighting game not unlike Crimson Skies.



Final Thoughts

As it stands right now, Nintendo is either going to have to sell the Wii Sports package at a budget price of 20 bucks or less, or bundle it in with the Wii for me to recommend it to anyone. While the games have potential to be great party games, the fact is that they lack the depth needed to ensure longevity. However, what people should be excited about the most with the Wii Sports games is the prospect of future, more thoroughly developed titles that follow the same basic formula as these games. Think of Wii Sports as just an appetizer before games like the Mario sports titles, Pilotwings, StarFox, Top Spin, Tiger Woods, and other high profile games make their way to the Wii.

Hopefully more information about how the Wii Sports games will be revealed in the near future. Until then, it seems people will have to settle with batting cages, tennis walls, mini golf courses, and playing with paper airplanes.

Preview by Mitchell Saltzman.