Wii Party U – Bringing the Family Together

Wii Party U does something that video games seldom do in our house…it got my wife playing a video game with the boys. The game brings the perfect balance of controller skill, random winnable games, and quick thinking to allow everyone to have an enjoyable time without always having the same winner. As the younger brother in the house, he has actually won a few games on the older brother giving everyone less of the arguing and more of the having fun. Each game is also quite easy to pick up, which means that even the adults will be getting in on the action and playing. Nintendo does a good job at giving you all sorts of different party modes to try to inside those modes different games to play that all involve their new set of mini-games.

TV Party allows you to get your family together to play the mini-games in a board game setting. You can pick from GamePad Island, Highway Rollers, Mii Fashion Plaza, The Balldozer and Team Building. We have loved The Balldozer, which is like one of those coin pusher games from the boardwalk except it pushes different types of balls which can range in points.

House Party is just a bunch of laughs, I mean the kids are literally on the floor laughing so hard that we have to take breaks from some of the games for everyone to recover. You have Button Smashers, Name that Face, Lost-and-Found Square, Sketchy Situation, Do U Know Mii?, Water Runners, Feed Mii! and Dance with Mii. Button Smashers is something like Twister with controllers, Name that Face has you taking pictures and guessing what face you made, Lost and Found has you describe what you are seeing, Sketchy Situation has you drawing, Do U Know Mii has you answering questions, Water Runners has you filling a virtual bucket, Feed Mii taking food orders, and Dance with Mii dancing without stepping on your expensive GamePad. Consider some of these games great learning experiences for your children especially Lost and Found teaching kids how to describe things. Sketchy Situation is another great one where it allows the kids to draw. All fun games in different ways and a great mode to play for some laugh out loud moments.

GamePad Party is a good mode if the television is being used by your younger brother or sister. You can to play all sorts of virtual tabletop games like baseball, foosball, and others. There are also matchup games, puzzle games, and a labyrinth type game without the metal ball rolling under the table.

The Minigames mode even has a great coop Bridge Burners challenge where you work with your partner to get to the end of the bridge, and Battle of the Minigames being the around house favorite for a quick game of Wii Party U with the crew. You also have Dojo Domination, Tabletop Tournament or just Freeplay Challenge where you can look to play a minigame or two and try to break some records.

The fact that you can bring the whole family together to play a fun game of Wii Party U is a great thing. The fact that the parents may stand a chance to beat the kids at a video game is also something that the kids will enjoy. Wii Party U brings the Wii Party experience to the Wii U with Party Phil and your Miiverse and maybe you can even get the grandparents to play a game or two with you, because spending time with the family is the most important thing.

If you are looking to get a gift for a group of children that they will all enjoy, look no further than Wii Party U. There are enough different mini-games and modes to make sure you can fit your gaming to your mood or the amount of time that you have available. It even comes with an extra controller at a great price, so two thumbs up.

Wii Party U with Black Wii Remote Plus Game Overview It’s time to party with Wii U Enjoy board games and mini-games on the TV, play familiar tabletop games using the Wii U GamePad Controller, or transform your living room into a game show floor. No matter what kind of party you’re throwing, Wii Party™ U offers something for everyone. Bundled with a Wii Remote Plus controller and stand at a suggested retail price of $49.99. Features:

Everyone at the party competes with his or her own Mii characters in a medley of party games. Experience new ways to play with others using the Wii U GamePad. For example, in “Lost-and-Found Square,” imagine you are the person holding the GamePad and you are lost in a playground. Your goal is to describe your surroundings based on what you see on the GamePad in order to help the other players find your location. Post your impressions of game sessions to Miiverse™. You can rate your performance by adding a one- to five-star ranking after the match is over. When you want to leave the TV behind, you can choose to play exclusively on the Wii U GamePad with an array of 15 tabletop games, ranging from foosball to baseball, for two-player competitive and cooperative play. In addition to the main games that everyone can play together, there are 80 minigames that can be played on your own. These include Tabletop Minigames that can be played with the Wii U GamePad only.

Note: Wii U Party was provided by Nintendo for Review