Wing Island for Wii Reviews by Gamers

I was very excited to see a flying game for the Wii. The missions are pretty fun with a good variety of tasks, including transporting cargo, locating targets, crop-dusting, navigating courses, etc. It's a little strange flying in formation and having to re-arrange formations, but adds an interesting twist to the traditional flying game. Steering is handled mostly by tilting the Wiimote and is very responsive. However, boosts, braking, and quick-turns are handled by physically moving the Wiimote, and these motions don't respond well at all. I also found the missions during which you located targets very frustrating, as your radar screen isn't very helpful, so I found myself wandering aimlessly, hoping to get lucky and stumble across one.

Ever thought “I really wish I knew an example of a game rated Fair - 5.” It's your lucky day, as Wing Island might be the clearest “5” I’ve had in a bit.

This game has a lot of simple pros, and also a lot of small cons. When I totaled up the imaginary scorecard in my brain, it came out about even, and I’d say that’s a 5. Here’s why:

The controls: To be honest, the controls were better then I thought they’d be. I was able to learn the steering and move throughout with ease. On the other side of that, maybe they were smooth because they were a little too simple. Well, simple controls that work, in my opinion, are better then overly complex controls that feel like a yoga session to pull off.

The graphics : Graphics were OK. Nothing to write home about, and only a few maps. The maps are few and on the small side, but at least they are vastly different in setup so each map doesn’t feel the same. They could have let plane upgrades actually be visible in the game to give a little eye candy for you plane lovers, but upgrade your engine/weight/turning all you want in the garage and your plane will look the same as it did.

The game: My phrase on this “fair" game: too short (not to be confused with the rapper). The plot line which is required to open some of the islands is over to quick. After that, you have the option to continue flying around the islands that you’ve opened and try to best your top mission scores. On top of that, a lot of the missions are sometimes frighteningly similar in goal and in how you complete them:

Mission 1: Drop off these apples!
Mission 2: Drop off these barrels!

I don’t mind the whole replay option of ‘bettering your scores’, but when my scores to work on are cloned missions across very few islands, I feel like the game is about done.

Final (deep) thoughts: When I put my thoughts together, the word “Fair” floated over my head like a divine intervention, so 5 it is. I had a lot of fun, for about a day.