Games for Lunch: Wii Music

In a nutshell: The world's first and only rhythm game that includes a dog suit.
11/10/2008 7:33 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 4

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Oct. 20, 2008
System: Wii (duh!)
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

0:00 I had a bit of fun playing a demo of Wii Music at the last E3, but it seemed more suited to a short demo than even a full hour of play. Will it hold up? Let's find out!

0:01 "Welcome to Wii Music! I'm the musical maestro, Sebastian Tute!" Heh. Toot. He looks like a mustachioed Mii crossed with a muppet crossed with a South Park character crossed with Bach. He talks in a sort of pidgin Italian with text-based speech bubbles. "I'm here to help you discover that YOU'RE a musical maestro, too!"

0:02 My Mii looks rather dashing in a suit and tie. Tute explains that there are four methods of controlling instruments. First up, piano, which requires me to dig out the Nunchuk. "The secret is to just relax and move as if you're playing the piano." He tells me, "don't even think about tempo" for now. Rock Band it ain't...

0:05 "Hear that? You're a pianist!" What did you call me? Oh ... sorry, I thought you said something else (even though I'm reading text). Just waving the Wii remote and Nunchuk up and down made some surprisingly nice music. The controls are nice and responsive too. One annoyance: I can't pick my notes?

0:06 Guitar strumming is next ... I hold the Nunchuk like the neck of the guitar and strum the Wii remote in front of my chest. Leaning the Nunchuk leans the angle of the on-screen guitar. Cute, if a little meaningless.

0:07 The trumpet controls have me pushing the 1 and 2 buttons to make horn noises. Again, it's cute. I like how the angle of the Wii remote subtly controls the volume.

0:08 Violin controls require me to push a button on the Nunchuk while moving the Wii remote back and forth across the "string." Not as accurate-feeling as the others...

0:09 Mr. Tute sits at a piano next to mine. He's about half my height, and so is his piano. "Surprised at my size? Sure I'm tiny! But I'll help you be a big star before long." Oh, tiny Sebastian Tute, you are TOO PRECIOUS!

0:11 The beat keeping be-bops get introduced in the corner. We start with "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Simple enough. I start out just plunking out the beat, but by the end I'm adding my own improvisations. I'm impressed with how good my playing sounds, even when I'm making up my own beats. The game seems very good at creating compelling melodies. Seems hard to sound bad.

0:13 This time I try some syncopation and jazzy rhythms to my playing. In the middle of the song, an orchestra comes in to accompany me. It's all rather endearing, and I'm still amazed out how the game makes me sound good seemingly no matter what I do. It's making me see "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in a whole new light!

0:14 FYI, the orchestra was made up of Natalie, Peter, Bob and Pedro Tute. J.J. and Susie will be joining us soon. That is all.

0:17 On to a jam session with ... "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," again. Would it kill them to introduce a new song at this point? "Making music is the most natural thing in the world, so always enjoy yourself to the fullest!" I'm trying, but making one song over and over is not that fun!