A Bit Of Hands On Time With The Wii U

With the Wii U touring across Canada for the next month, I decided to drop in to the trailer this past weekend to check it out when it was in Toronto. I got around to trying Luigi’s Ghost Mansion and New Super Mario Bros U. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to check out the Nintendo Land Zelda booth, Scribblenauts Unlimited and SING booths before the trailer was cleared out for a new batch of people.

With Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, four players using their Miis are to find the Ghost, which is controlled by the GamePad. The Ghost is invisible unless it’s got a hold of someone or is running and the objective of the other players is to shine the flashlight onto the ghost until it loses all it’s life. As simple as this concept is, it’s a blast to play, especially if your friends are really competitive.

The next thing I got my hands on while in the trailer was New Super Mario Bros U. I was a bit cynical with this title before the demo due to the overabundance of Mario titles in the past year, but it more than delivers in pure unadulterated fun. It builds on the New Super Mario Bros 2 concept of Coin Rush and the idea of teamwork (or the lack thereof) in New Super Mario Bros Wii. The GamePad is used as the fifth player as most of you know, which can either help or hinder players. Another note is that players share communal lives, so if you do decide to throw someone in a lava pit, be prepared to run to the end of the level on that one life!

Before having some time with the GamePad, I was a bit worried about how the balance and ergonomics of the controller. The GamePad has a solid weight to it and good ergonomics. I didn’t need to overextend to get to the shoulder and trigger buttons and the face buttons and sticks were well placed. It’s something I’m looking forward to get more time with when the Wii U comes out for sure.

Markus Lai can be usually be found either a screen playing video games or a camera when not stuck in class or work. In his spare time, he writes for infendo.com and brokenfuse.com