Wii Play is a collection of relatively shallow and unappealing mini-games put together.
Of the nine mini-games, the first is Shooting Range, based off the 1984 video game Duck Hunt. The player welds the Wii Remote like a pistol and shoots with the "B" trigger at floating targets, balloons, tin canisters, and UFOs in a grassy plain background. The occasional flying duck also appears. Despite giving the player a sense of directing the Wii Remote across the screen, there isn't much replay value besides raising the high score.
Next is Find Mii, a searching game where the player finds a Mii or group of Miis in a crowd and selects them according to the current objective. For example, you may be asked to find two identical Miis in a group of people. Each level is timed, but completing levels to see what kind of level comes next is sort of entertaining. Either way, nothing more can be learned here about the Wii Remote than Shooting Range.
Table Tennis looks like table tennis, but the similarities end there. In Table Tennis, the player hits the ball back and forth with a computer-controlled "opponent" to score points, but unlike actual table tennis, the opponent never misses, and the goal of the game is to keep the ball from running off the table. No strategy is involved as moving the paddle back and forth is all that needs to be done. The game is very shallow: no need to flick the Wii Remote when the ball comes or move it forward and back; just move it side to side.
Pose Mii introduces the Wii Remote's ability to recognize twisting motions. A Mii is the control. Pressing the "A" and "B" buttons switches your Mii's pose; twisting the Wii Remote rotates your two-dimensional Mii, and moving the Wii Remote across the screen moves the Mii around. Bubbles containing silhouettes will fall from the sky, and the goal is to match up the control Mii with the silhouettes in regard to position, rotation, and pose. The objective is to pop each bubble this way before any touch the bottom of the screen. Special bubbles freeze time; but otherwise, this game is very shallow and uninteresting.
Laser Hockey is self-explanatory. A colorful, neon-lighted air hockey table has a neon circular puck and two bar-shaped paddles and goals on both sides. Hit the ball into the opponent's goal to win. At the beginning of the game, the bar-shaped paddles can be transformed into circular paddles. What diverts this game from the old video game Pong is how the paddle can be moved not only up and down, but also left and right. Rotation rotates the bar shapes to shoot the puck in different angles. It's very straightforward and can be almost addictive.
Fishing gives you a rod to put in a shallow pond of water where two-dimensional fish lurk. Swinging the Wii Remote back when you get a catch helps with the emulation of a real fishing trip. Some fish are worth more than others, while other fish like to run away when scared. The occasional large and valuable fish sometimes appears temporarily. Fishing was a very original idea for a game like Wii Play, but can become tiresome quickly.
Billiards is a well-built addition to Wii Play. The physics are fantastic, and a lot can be learned about the Wii Remote's detection of forward and backward thrusting movements. Just like a real game of pool, the objective is to push all the balls in numerical order into six holes with the cue ball. The Wii Remote does an acceptable job of detecting the pushing and pulling of the controller when hitting the white cue ball. Replay value is decent here.
For the first time, the Wii Remote is held sideways in Charge, a game where everything is made of knitted yarn. You ride a cow through a sandy road knocking down scarecrows and jumping over barriers. Turning is performed through tilting the sideways Wii Remote, and jumping is executed by quickly flicking the Wii Remote upwards. Speeding up and slowing down is also possible: tilt the Wii Remote forward and backward. Charge makes wonderful use of the controller's capabilities, and replay value only halts when you've managed to knock down all the scarecrows in the level at full speed.
Last, but certainly not least, is Tanks, possibly the most addicting and fun game in Wii Fit. The player controls a wooden toy tank on a quest to destroy other enemy tanks by firing bullets and dropping mines. Destructible and indestructible obstacles, as well as bullet-reflecting walls, make this game a strategic challenge. The high number of stages and variety in enemy tanks make this game a center of Wii Play. "Variety" is not only divergent colors, but also new weapons and abilities. Multiplayer is twice as entertaining when two tanks work together to defeat enemy lines.
Bronze, silver, gold, and platinum medallions are also awarded to exceptionally high scores in games. I, however, would not recommend this game, especially to someone who seeks an athletic game.
Pros:
1. Medals offer some replay value.
2. Some games, such as Tanks, are addicting.
Cons:
1. Most games are too simple and become tedious quickly.
2. Not too much movement is required by the player.
3. Disappointingly low replay value is present.
4. The game is probably the least of the "Wii" series.