Link's Crossbow Training

As with most arcade shoot em ups, the game becomes progressively harder.  There are secret things you need to figure out how and when to shoot on each level, ways to multiply your score or add big bonuses.  The basic instructions won't help you here, you've got to figure most of the fun bits out for yourself.  It really is a case of try and see, blast away and choose what you want to try this time around.  You can play it as violently as you wish - sharp shooting headshots for big multipliers or just panning the screen with your itchy trigger finger and hoping you hit everything that moves (or looks like a target).  You won't be able to get medals on later levels without considerable ability, but the earlier ones do allow a fair degree of tomfoolery at the helm.  More and more items become losses if you hit them, and targets themselves move around in more irritating ways.  Did I say irritating?  I should say challenging, because that's exactly what it is.  Irritating if overplayed, perhaps.

Graphically, Link's Crossbow Training takes you on a tour of the Twilight Princess game, showing you lovely levels and open spaces full of stuff for you to shoot at.  Players who enjoyed Twilight Princess will appreciate the levels in Crossbow Training better than those who haven't - pots can be shot for extra coins, doors blasted open and old levels revisited.  It's a nice bit of nostalgia from a very recent piece of glorious Nintendo history.

Considering the zapper comes with the game at £20 RRP, we think this is good value no matter which way you look at it.  The only issue is what Wii Play struggled with - if you want to personally own two zappers, you'll have to purchase two copies of the game.  Currently zappers aren't being sold separately that we can find anywhere.  If you discover otherwise, do let us know!  I know someone who has three copies of Wii Play because he wanted three additional Wiimotes on launch day and that was the only way to buy them.

So, what are we left with?  Link's Crossbow Training appears to be packaged as another Wii Play; treated as the 'tech demo' of the Wii Zapper housing unit. The zapper unit itself feels comfortable, light and yet solid to hold.  We can see this opening up Wii gaming with some real options for shooting titles.  After all, who doesn't want wireless gun gaming in their own home?  Traditional gamers are crying out for Nintendo to 'mature' the Wii and offer more for the grown gamer.  They've done this with the zapper, we feel.  It's great news for those developing shooting titles for the Wii, should attract further mature titles to a console desperately in need of games with grit and helps the gamer to enjoy shooting games to a higher degree than before.  We love the zapper so far, and Link's Crossbow Training is tough enough at gold medal level to make up for the fact it is a very, very short game with no plotline. As tech demos go, this one is pretty sexy and we can't stop picking it up for 'one more try on that level'.  As for the zapper itself?  It may be just a house for your other bits and bobs, but it starts off with a bang, bringing wireless gun gaming to the living room of Wii gamers.  If this is a house, it's a house of funk. I'm certainly staying.

4.5/5 -- Kim Kaze