Nintendo has always had a good track record of launching their consoles alongside recognizable and beloved franchises. For both the launch of the Gameboy Advance and the Nintendo DS, there were remakes of classic Super Mario Bros. games released in their respective system’s initial libraries. Even the Gamecube, which lacked a solid launch lineup, had Luigi’s Mansion available for purchase on day one of the console’s US release. So when the Nintendo 3DS was announced, everyone expected a classic franchise to make a comeback along with its release. What no one expected was that title to be Pilotwings.
A surprising choice for a system launch title, Pilotwings is not exactly a household name for many gamers. Although some hardcore Nintendo fans may remember the franchise from the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 iterations, the series in general has been forgotten by many for the last decade. It certainly doesn’t have the same prominence in gaming culture as the Legend of Zelda or Metroid, but at the same time it is different enough from most games to stand out in its own right.
For those who have never heard of the franchise before, Pilotwings is a game which has players piloting various aerial vehicles in order to complete time trials and set high scores. In the new Nintendo 3DS installment in the series, players have access to one of three modes of transportation: a plane, a rocket belt (think jetpack), and a hang glider. In a series of challenges, the player will have to use each of these vehicles to race through checkpoints, collect balloons, and perform perfect landings.
Despite being a first-party published portable title, the touch screen in Pilotwings is almost ignored entirely. All the vehicles in the game are controlled using the 3DS’ new slidepad control and at most two or four buttons. The most advanced control methods usually involve alternating between weak or strong jets on the rocket belt or banking hard turns in the plane. For the most part, the simple approach to vehicle control is actually welcome and makes it accessible to anyone who may be interested in playing the game.
Although Nintendo was mostly tight-lipped about it until the final release of the game, Pilotwings is actually developed by Monster Games and it definitely shows. Just like Monster Games’ Wii launch title Excite Truck, players earn up to three stars on the above mentioned challenges and the central focus of the game play is on the mission flight mode. In mission flight, players earn these stars to progressively graduate to higher and higher classes while trying to earn top marks in increasingly difficult tasks. There are over forty missions in all spread across six different classes and the player is always encouraged to retry any mission to get a perfect score.
As far as content goes, Pilotwings is actually quite lacking. Each mission takes less than a minute to complete and the forty challenges present in the game don’t last for very long. A handful of hours is all it takes to complete the game’s mission flight mode and many gamers won’t find themselves compelled to return once they’ve finished it. It’s fun while it lasts, but that’s an afternoon at best.
Aside from the mission flight mode, there is also a free flight mode available as well. In free flight mode, the player is given two minutes to fly around Wuhu Island of Wii Sports Resort fame in the vehicle of their choice. During this two minute span, one is allowed to fly around at his leisure and complete some minor challenges such as visiting landmarks, performing tricks, or taking photos. Doing well in any of these eventually unlocks the ability to fly around the island at different times of day. It’s not a particularly compelling mode to play, but it does add a little more value to the game overall.
Since there’s not much of a full fledged game in Pilotwings, it really seems as though the title errs more on the side of a tech demo than anything else. Having the camera locked behind the player’s vehicle at all times allows the system’s 3D effect to do a good job of giving the world a sense of depth. It may take a bit of fiddling with the 3D slider to get the effect to the optimal intensity, but when it works it works well. Aside from the 3D, the game’s presentation is very much like that of Wii Sports Resort as it mirrors both the appearance of that game as well as the Weather Channel-esque soundtrack familiar to anyone who has played Sports Resort.
It’s not fair to say that Pilotwings is a bad game as it accomplishes what it sets out to do quite well. It’s a simple game which shows off the system’s 3D effects and is fun to play. Unfortunately, the overall lack of content in the title really makes it tough to recommend at its $40 price point since most players will be done with it in the span of a few hours. As it stands, Pilotwings is a decent title for new 3DS owners but the experience is over all too quickly.
