While fans of the point-click adventure should buy in an instant, the rest of us better rent it first.
While I thought the name and cartoony box art was getting in the way of this 'gem' I was unpleasantly surprised that if you can't take the box art or the name the graphics and story won't help the situation as you play through the game. From annoying animations that are repeated far too often to a rabbit with snot hanging out of their nose, the graphics style sits in line with the light, comic strip, appeal.
While there were so many grating animations and graphics, there were also the gems of crashing a plane into a door or slowing watching the trap unfold until you are crushed, but as the point of the game is to NOT die, it was unfortunate that so much of its charm existed where you weren't suppose to be. Second, while you watch the whole thing unfold, why couldn't I step out of the way?!
Graphics aside, the introduction of the Wii remote controls added a bit to the immersion of the gameplay. But again, when something doesn't behave the way you expect you will wish for a controller and buttons instead. Things that worked well were pouring and sawing among a few others, but levers were annoying more than they should have been. All in all as much immersion as was gained was lost. Point and click zooming and such did help with puzzles though.
The story is weak, extremely weak. And just makes you feel like an idiot having to play it out even though you can see it all coming right at you, as early as after the intro tutorial level. This coupled with the animations only solidify the feeling that you are controlling Zack rather than you 'ARE' Zack, finishing all hopes of wishing for the immersion feel the controls tried so hard to provide. With gameplay of maybe 10-15 hours, quicker for some that are really good at puzzles, it gets over pretty quick. Which might be a good thing so you don't have to watch the same animations over and over for 20+ hours.
To be fair, once you do figure out the puzzles though you will feel that nice sense of accomplishment that comes with point click puzzle games. For those of ultimate classic games, if you liked Kings Quest, you should get this immediately. A few features are added that has a method of providing help without having to consult online references or play the whole level again up to that point which is a nice addition.
A few other complaints I have though are:
1) As I worked on solving the puzzles I just couldn't control everything the way I thought I should be able to.
2) You could make a mistake early on, which doesn't cause death. Thus you sit around puzzling trying to think of what to do next. Only to find you messed up a while ago and have to start over. With how much emphasis they put on when you die, you better die 'cool' I wish they would have extended that a bit so when you make a grave mistake you always died.
It IS worth a rent though. The use of the Wiimote does show what more can be done in addition to that witnessed in Wii Sports and control and responsiveness should only get better. Most people will be able to complete this game in a weekend, chances are only higher for a 5 day rental. There are additional things to unlock and gather for those that like the original pass through the story line. Which leads me to believe this is THE perfect candidate for a rent. You will get everything you want out of it in 5 days, or you will love it so much that you can't do without it in your collection. Either way, you should get around to playing it sometime.