Nintendo Land

There are 12 unique games for you to enjoy with your friends and family or by yourself which are as follows.

1. The Legend Of Zelda: Battle Quest (1 to 4 players) - This is great team player game where the person using the Wii U Gamepad is a archery and the Wii Remote players get to use a sword. There are lots of enemies that need to be defeated in your quest to find the Triforce.
2. Pikmin Adventure (1 to 5 players) - You get to control Olimar or a large Pikmin. There are lots blocks for you to throw and smash. Even more enemies which come in all shapes and sizes. Will you overcome the mad onslaught and make it back to your spaceship safely.
3. Metroid Blast (1 to 5 players) - At the moment this is my favourite mode on Nintendo Land. The person with the Wii U game pad gets to control Samus's flying Gunship and other players are on foot. There is a futuristic city for you to hunt eachother down on.
4. Mario Chase (2 to 5 players) Mario has to outrun and outsmart his pursuers over a set time.
5. Luigi's Ghost Mansion (2 to 5 players) - The person with Wii U GamePad controls a ghost whilst the other players hunt him with flash lights.
6. Animal Crossing: Sweet Day (2 to 5 players) - The person with the Wii U gamepad is a village guard whom must stop all the oher players, whom are cute animals from getting the sweets.
7. Yoshi's Fruit Cart (1 player) - My seven year old daughter enjoys this mode the most. You must draw a route to pick up all the fruit and then go for the exit. If you don't pick up all the fruit then the exit door will not open.
8. Octopus Dance (1 player) - You must follow the instructor's lead with the Wii U gamepad and dance to the rhythm of the beat or the octopus will sweep you off your feet!
9. Donkey Kong's Crash Course (1 player) - You will have great fun guiding a cart through a crazy course full of different hazards with the Wii U GamePad.
10. Takamaru's Ninja Castle (1 player) - I loved the Wii U GamePad controls for this game as you throw ninja stars at loads of ninjas. You hold the Gamepad sideways and point it towards the tv and slide the stylus upwards to throw a ninja star.
11. Captain Falcon's Twister Race (1 player) This is excellent racing fun and is hopefully a good sign that the Wii U will have a full on F-Zero game in the future which would be mind blowing.
12. Balloon Trip Breeze (1 player) - Emark on a scenic but risky journey across the sea with only a couple of balloons to keep you aloft. Dodge the obstacles and see how far you can sail the currents.

There are other cool things to do in Nintendo Land. At the top of Central Tower you get to play a coin game with coins you have won from playing the other games. If your coins hit all the holes then you win a wacky prize. The Tour Train takes you around to see all the many attractions. If you have your Wii U connected to the internet then other Mii charcters will visit you from around the world , which you can talk to as well.

I'll be honest, I was sceptical about Nintendo Land - I thought it could be some half-hearted freebie that I'd play for 10 minutes and then forget about, but I was really wrong. Most of the games here are excellent, and ridiculously fun in multiplayer. The Zelda, Metroid and Pikmin games are particularly excellent and are tough enough to challenge even veteran players.

Nintendo Land is an excellent showcase of what the WiiU is all about and it's just a brilliant game in its own right.

The third game most people will be looking at when buying their Wii U is this one, it's very easy to quickly write it off as a Wii Sports type game: A demo to show off what things are like on the console. In some ways it is but it does stand on it's own feet as a standalone title too. (which is the way I bought it as was more value for money to get the Zombieu pack.) There's a central hub where all of the attractions are held along with it's own host. Whom you will come to loathe.

I'm going to be looking at the majority of the games. Keep in mind the multiplayer ones I haven't had as much of a go on compared to the others.

Takamaru's Ninja Castle: 1 Player - Take on Ninja in this frantic game, It's essentially an on-rails shootem up only you use the gamepad to slide the ninja stars at the screen. It got quite challenging rather quickly.

Metroid Blast: 1-5 Players - The person in the gamepad flies Samus' ship, the wii-motes are on foot. It felt like one of those arcade shooting games where you are in a ship firing down on all of the little enemies. Its more up close if you are on the ground and you just pray that your shipman will be able to take out as much as possible else you'll be overwhelmed.

Animal Crossing: Sweet Day: 2-5 players: Some of you play as the animals to try and grab as many sweets while another plays as the guards to stop them. It was quite frantic from what we played.

Donkey Kong's Crash Course: 1 player - Guide your cart to the end in one piece. This one is just so addicting, you use the gamepad to direct the cart over contraptions and obstacles to reach the end in as quick as possible. Except the cart is so unstable just about anything will knock it over. It's very addicting to play.

Yoshi's Fruit Cart: 1 player - you gotta eat all the fruit and make it to the exit by drawing a line. The snag is that the fruit and obstacles are on your TV screen while you draw on the screen below. It's a simple concept but very difficult to master. Probably one of my favourites

Mario Chase: 2-5 player - One player is Mario, the rest are Toads. You need to outrun the toads as they work together to try and stop you. Personally I don't think the 2-5 player games work so well unless you have 3 or more people in. 1 vs 1 is just not challenging at all.

Pikmin Adventure: 1-4 players - Sad that Pikmin 3 was delayed? Don't fret! This one has one of you playing as Olimar and the rest as the Pikmin as you take on toy versions of the Pikmin world. It feels like an entire Pikmin game shrunk down in order to tide us over till Pikmin 3. SO much fun.

Captain Falcon's Twister Race: 1-player: I couldn't really get this one to work. It kept asking me to configure the gamepad. Once I got it was ok. Basically it's get around the track while avoiding obstacles.

Octopus Dance: 1-player: The worst one on here. It's essentially a follow the rhythm game as the diverman does a combination of moves and you need to follow them. I suppose if you are thrilled with games like Just Dance you might enjoy it more.

Luigi's Ghost Mansion: 2-5 players One is Luigi and you need to stop the ghosts before they get you. It's fun as the other 2-5 games but you really need 3 or more people. Unfortunately I haven't tried it much.

The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest: 1-4 players: Gamepad is the bow-man, the rest are the sword and shield guys. Join together in a quest for the triforce as you vanquish enemies together. This one is a lot of fun too.

Balloon Trip Breeze: 1 player: Remember the old game Balloon Trip? It makes a return here, you use the gamepad in order to blow yourself along the course and collecting as many balloons as possible.

Central Tower Coin Game: 1 player: Not really a game like the rest but worth mentioning. As you play the games you'll collect coins to use in this, think of it like those arcade machines where it goes down and you can win more coins or sometimes a prize. Fill all of the holes with coins to earn a prize which will enter your Plaza. Prizes are usually jukebox songs for the Plaza but also items to go there based on what you've seen in the games.

The game is really a lot of fun especially with friends, however the downside is that there's no way to play online with it. And as good as they are I can't help but feel that there could have been a few more games. How about 'A Busy day in Onett: One player as Ness while 3 others as Aliens where you need to stop them with Ness' PSI powers?' or a 1-4 adventure using Fire Emblem? But it does it's job.

Pros:
+ There's a game there for everyone
+ Bringing back some lesser known games like Game + Watch, Takamaru, Balloon Trip and F-Zero for new generations
+ Plenty of cheerful and great tunes from classic series
+ Plaza can fill up with so many Miis
+ Fun for all the family, and even on your own
+ More than just a demo showing off what the Wii U can do

Cons:
- Octopus Dance
- Problems with F-Zero configuring
- No online modes
- Feel they could have done more games
- The guide is so annoying.

Nintendoland is an essential purchase for the Wii U. Even if you picked the Zombie pack over it.