Last week, Nintendo released the Wii Zapper. The Zapper itself is a plastic holder. Once the player inserts a wii remote and a Wii Nunchuck the plastic holder the Zapper is like a gun or a crossbow. The remote lays flat on the top front of the zapper. The Nunchuk goes in the back. A small compartment holds the cords that connect the Nunchuk to the remote. A trigger at the front of the Zapper lets the player shoot. Another button allows the player to zoom in for close shots, and the Nunchuk lets the player navigate through the game.
The Crossbow game is short, but a lot of fun. It’s set in the Twilight Princess Legend of Zelda world. Some of the creatures are frightening, so I wouldn’t recommend all the levels for young children. Other levels are only targets and wouldn’t be frightening.
There are nine levels that each have three parts. The player can earn a bronze, silver, gold, or even platinum on each level. Knowing that you were just a hundred away from the next level makes for a lot of repaying the level just to try one more time. The games all vary. Some are basic target shooting. Some are defense where the player is stationary on a bridge or in a canoe and must shoot at sea creatures or birds. The hardest are the levels where the player has to move around to find and avoid enemies. The last level involves an almost indestructible black knight.
Accuracy counts. For shooting the middle of the target the player is awarded 30 points. But for the edge of the target the player only gets ten points. The best way to increase scores is to not miss. For each target shot in a row, the player is awarded more and more points. A tenth hit of ten points is awarded 100 points, and so on. Speed is also a factor as the targets do go away and each level has a count down timer.
Besides the targets, there are extra things like pottery, and meteors to shoot for extra points. A few glowing green enemies will grant the player an automatic weapon for a short time. The player has to get at least a bronze score to open the higher levels.
The Zapper with the included Game retails for $25.00, and some stores are offering it for $20.00. The Zapper works with other Wii games too.
Also See: