Link's Crossbow Training
Link get's locked and loaded
By Matt Kelly
Earlier this year Nintendo announced the Wii Zapper, a rifle shell for the Wii and promised fun gunplay for everyone. They also
announced that the new accessory could be purchased packed in with a brand new title called Link's Crossbow Training.
Born out of the world of Twilight Princess, Link's crossbow training is pure arcade goodness.
The game plays out much like the arcade favorite Point Blank does , with you running through sets of levels in a stage-by-stage fashion. There are a few different kinds of gameplay, the most traditional
being target based gameplay where you are on rails and are given sets of targets to shoot down with your Zapper. After that we have a game of 'keep away' with Link surrounded by dozens of spawning enemies which you must take down or it's all over. You'll find you can move more freely in this mode, but only as far as looking or pointing the Zapper towards the edge of the screen to turn. Finally, we have a ranger-style of combat, featuring free movement using the Nunchuck joystick and IR pointing to turn.
Beyond the actual target shooting the environments feature a wide array of breakable objects for bonus points, from your typical Zelda brown pots to meteors falling from the sky. Advancement through the levels is based around your score per-set of three stages; earn a bronze medal and unlock the next set of stages. Medals go up to platinum with score requirements jumping up for each level of medal.
Unfortunately this is where the depth of the game really ends. While it's excusable given Crossbow Training is a pack-in game, fans of arcade shooters won't find the depth of some of the light-gun games we've seen over the years like Point Blank.
If you've played The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess you'll feel completely at home with the graphics in Crossbow Training as they are, except in the rare instance, completely on par with Twilight Princess
. Environments have gone through very little changes aside from the additional objects to shoot. The only area of the graphics that has changed is that Crossbow Training does employ many pre-rendered backgrounds during some of its
more enemy filled levels. Big issue? Not really, but some of them do look a little out of place.
Sound wise, Crossbow Training echos a lot of Twilight Princess' previously laid out design principles. Sound effects are more or less identical to to Twilight's, and there are a few additional music cues. Most of the soundtrack is made up of Twilight's fantastic rich soundtrack and while we heard these tunes a year ago, the soundtrack is still a great listen and doesn't get old.
Summary
All in all Crossbow Training has about the depth of a puddle and arcade shooter enthusiasts won't get their fix here. However, it's a fun game, introduces you to the Zapper and has enough length for the price you pay. If we were paying $50 for just the game though, we wouldn't be happy. Overall, the game is simple yet addictive.
Graphically and sound wise, we're not seeing anything new, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Gameplay - 7
Little depth, but overall fun addictive gameplay and a good introduction for the Wii Zapper.
Graphics - 8
Nothing new here but it looks as good as Twilight Princess ever did. It would have been nice to maybe explore a few new locations.
Sound - 8.8
Again nothing really new, but it is still some seriously good sound design, both in music and sound effects. You'll be getting shivers of excitement hearing those familiar tunes.
Value - 7
Unless you get really hooked on improving your score or playing the basic multiplayer, once you've got your head around the game and the Zapper you'll want to move onto some of the other Zapper games on their way after your initial couple of runs.
Overall: 7.7
Great introduction to the Zapper, and fun while it lasts. If there'd been a few more game modes this could have easily scored higher. As a pack in game though, it's a pretty damn good deal!