Zack & Wiki - go buy it now!

[vegeta1215]

Not sure if anyone else was following with game, but I picked it up last week and it is a lot of fun. It's an original game by Capcom for Wii, and in it you go through different stages, solving puzzles (a la adventure games) in order to get to the treasure chest at the end. Don't let the kiddie-like name fool you, this game is challenging and has some very clever puzzles.

I've beaten 11 stages, and I think there are over 20 of them, but there's a good bit of replay value because you can replay levels to get a better score by solving the puzzles differently, and collecting hidden treasures, etc. At $40, you guys should check it out!

[DarkFlameWolf]

I don't know....your signature says I should be playing Prince of Persia... :P

[Modus Ponens]

I know that Matt Casamassina and Mark Bozon over at IGN have been raving about this game for months. They've had what they call a "buy Zack & Wiki campaign," citing its originality and lack of press as reasons to necessitate such a quest. I've been looking forward to it for a while now, so yeah, I'll probably check it out.

[Warlock]

I've been considering it but I have so much crap to play right now. Maybe for Christmas.

[Darth Marsden]

If I had a Wii, I'd definately strongly consider it. But I don't. So I won't. :(

[Cloral]

I picked it up over the weekend. Seems pretty good so far, but I've only played the first 3 puzzles, so I have yet to reach the meaty puzzles yet. Those will be the true test of how good a game it really is. Though what I've seen thus far does give me a good amount of hope.

edit:
Played it a bit more, and got to the first boss stage. It really is a good game.

[vegeta1215]

I'm quite a bit farther in the game. I'm getting better at it, but it's still challenging. But you just get a great sense of accomplishment for solving the stages, it's really great. Seriously people, go check out this game.

[Kairyu]

Can you name some games it could be compared to?

[Warlock]

Based on movies I've seen, it reminds me a bit of Lost Vikings (but with less of a 3-player mechanic to it obviously).

Anyways, it's on my christmas list :P

[Cloral]

Probably the games that would get the first comparison would be the old point-and-click adventure games like King's Quest or Monkey Island - in that you point with the wiimore and 'click' on items of interest or locations where you want Zack to move to. But it is still rather different from those as well. For one, the game is broken up into stages, so you don't have to worry about picking up an item on one side of the island and needing way over on the other side. All the puzzle solving is far more localized. Secondly, there aren't a whole bunch of esoteric items you might need like a wooden hand, fake skin, chess timer, scupparware box, chicken grease, manhole cover, and sword (to name a few from one of the chapters of Monkey Island 4). Instead, there are a number of more standardized items like bombs, grabbers, and drills, and the puzzle is in figuring out how to apply them to the situation at hand - and what order you need to do things in. Also, whenever you use an item, you do so by doing a motion with the wiimote. For instance, if you want to saw through something, you do a sawing motion. A good example of when this works well is a puzzle where you have to stack blocks, and twisting the wiimote while holding a block will cause you to flip the block over, allowing you to complete the puzzle.

So to answer your question Kairyu, I don't know that there is really another game it can be directly compared to. Capcom really did a good job of taking the Wii hardware and coming up with a game that is suited to it. If only other companies did this more instead of just forcing us to waggle the wiimote all the time.

[Warlock]

Probably the games that would get the first comparison would be the old point-and-click adventure games like King's Quest or Monkey Island - in that you point with the wiimore and 'click' on items of interest or locations where you want Zack to move to. But it is still rather different from those as well. For one, the game is broken up into stages, so you don't have to worry about picking up an item on one side of the island and needing way over on the other side. All the puzzle solving is far more localized. Secondly, there aren't a whole bunch of esoteric items you might need like a wooden hand, fake skin, chess timer, scupparware box, chicken grease, manhole cover, and sword (to name a few from one of the chapters of Monkey Island 4). Instead, there are a number of more standardized items like bombs, grabbers, and drills, and the puzzle is in figuring out how to apply them to the situation at hand - and what order you need to do things in. Also, whenever you use an item, you do so by doing a motion with the wiimote. For instance, if you want to saw through something, you do a sawing motion. A good example of when this works well is a puzzle where you have to stack blocks, and twisting the wiimote while holding a block will cause you to flip the block over, allowing you to complete the puzzle.

So to answer your question Kairyu, I don't know that there is really another game it can be directly compared to. Capcom really did a good job of taking the Wii hardware and coming up with a game that is suited to it. If only other companies did this more instead of just forcing us to waggle the wiimote all the time.

See this reminds me of Lost Vikings though, with the exception of the point-and-click interface. That was very much a platform-puzzle solver game :) They have just basically replaced the three vikings with the point-and-click puzzles.

Another perhaps less apt example might be Lemmings, though obviously I don't think Zack and Wiki walk endlessly into pits :P Or maybe more closer - Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2. That had a point-and-click interface and involved puzzle solving. But the Mini-Marios moved automatically similar to Lemmings (though you could stop them too), which is probably different from this game.

[vegeta1215]

In case anyone was wondering, I finished Zack & Wiki last week right before I picked up Super Mario Galaxy. Overall the game is a blast, and there were some especially great levels near the end of the game. I confess I had to seek help for the 2nd to last level though. (it is gigantic)

Now that I've finished the main game I can replay the levels to beat my high score, (and in some cases solve the levels in a different way) fill up my collection books, and look for the hidden treasures in each level. It will probably be a while before I come back to it, but it's good to know there's plenty more left to do! btw, I clocked in around 20 hours or so on the main game, which is not too shabby.

Anyone still on edge about whether to pick this up, check out the video reviews on IGN and Gametrailers.com (plus it's only $40 people!!!)

[Warlock]

I got this for Christmas and finally got a chance to play it over the weekend. Damn fun game. I've really liked some of the puzzles so far - it doesn't really coddle you from the start like most puzzle games do. Which is a good thing. I mean, it spends one level teaching you the basics, but then it's pure puzzle solving.

My only complaint so far is that damn monkey needs to shut the hell up. God, he's worse than Navi. He seems a little better now that I'm a few levels into it (aka he isn't telling me what everything does or the solutions to really obvious puzzles like the first level's) but he's still a little chatty.

Other than that, the click-to-move interface could be a little smarter at times (at least where stairs are involves), and a few of the Wiimote gestures are touchy (i.e. in the Goblin level, turning the handcrank is annoying) but otherwise I enjoy not having to use the damn nunchuck.

[The_Amaster]

So, I'd been looking to buy this in a vague, "it looks good" kinda way for months now, but never got around to it. Until I took my brother to Gamestop today for another Wiimote, and spotted a copy for only 17.99. Needless to say, I picked it up. And all I can say is:

Holy Crap! This is the Wiimote like never before. All...all the stuff you can do with it. I mean, the first time I relaized on that three statues puzzle that you could turn the blocks over by twisting your wrist. How many games do stuff like that?

[AtmaWeapon]

Is there a double jump? This is really important. These days, it's just not a Capcom game unless it has a double jump.

Also, if there's bats they have to be the hardest enemy to kill.

[Darth Marsden]

Amaster: No More Heroes does have some great Remote interaction with the mini games you get from the Job Centre, and there's always Wario Ware.

[Warlock]

Is there a double jump? This is really important. These days, it's just not a Capcom game unless it has a double jump.

Also, if there's bats they have to be the hardest enemy to kill.

You can't jump in this game (except in scripted type jumps.. sort of like how Link jumps off cliffs and across small chasms and such).

[Cloral]

...and you 'kill' bats by ringing your bell at them. In fact, most enemies are 'killed' in this way.

[The_Amaster]

I get most of the transformations. But the bat to umrella one really bugs me because the mass seems so off. I mean, most enemies transform into things aproximatly the same size, but the bats just get huge...

[DarkFlameWolf]

I'm still stuck on the.....'sword battles' in the second to last puzzle. My remote never seems to figure out what the heck I'm trying to do and as such, I can't beat the final puzzle due to faulty understanding of my actions. And yes, I've tried different remotes with fresh and old batteries in each to see if that was the problem.
So those sword battles, imo, are a bit unfair and that's where I'm stuck now.

[vegeta1215]

I agree, the sword battles are a pain, but they're not impossible. (though it may be nearly impossible to get all the points for the sword battles) Thankfully, you can avoid all of the sword battles except for the one on the log bridge...

What I do is hold the remote in front of me in a vertical position so Zack holds the sword vertically in the game. This will block any horizontal slashes the enemy does. You can't block vertical slashes this way, so you'll have to be fast and slash the enemy before he hits you with one of his vertical slashes. Holding the remote vertically, I flick my wrist so at the end of the motion I am pointing the remote at the screen. Your arm shouldn't move.

Hit the enemy three times to win. If you're still having trouble, you can always practice on the other skeleton enemies so you don't waste time getting all the way to the end, only to die.