PilotWings: Resort – Flying High, or Crash Landing? NintendoEverything Review

Game Info
System: Nintendo 3DS
Genre: Flight Thing (Simulation?)
Players: 1
Release Date: March 27th, 2011
Developer: Monster Games
Publisher: Nintendo

I admit, I’ve never used a poorly-worded catch phrase as the title to a review before. Other sites seem to do this endlessly, (“Can Zelda slash its way to victory?”, “Will Mario need steroids for his latest sports title?”) yet I’ve never found it to be quite in my taste. For some reason this week I’m feeling different, because (as you can see) there is a magnificent use of puns in the title of this review, if only to allow myself a very easy segue. “How?”, you ask? It’s simple: PilotWings: Resort is not a crash landing, but it’s also no cruise-level flyer.

When I begrudgingly lugged myself down to one of my local GameStops to finally trade in some old Wii games for PilotWings: Resort, I was a little bit… erm… “miffed”. I mean, after all the hype we had seen surrounding the launch of Nintendo’s new handheld, there really wasn’t much to be had in terms of launch titles. Sure, Nintendo had Steel Diver, PilotWings, and some game about animals (elephants, if I recall), but aside from one or two select games, nothing seemed worth even a passing glance. So, needless to say, the thought of trading in 6 games for 1 wasn’t the most appealing one I had had in the last few months. Bottom line? Bleck.

Still, after a few minutes of getting everything traded (and being surprised that I got a lot more than I had expected), I made the purchase, alongside Street Fighter 4 3D, and headed back home to play them.

The first thing you’ll notice about PilotWings: Resort is that there’s really not much to notice about the game. Menus are pretty standard, icons look average, the graphics are exactly what you’d expect; the only thing that stood out at me was how deep the 3D was, and that’s not entirely a good thing. Even to this day, after playing for several weeks, I can’t play with the 3D all the way up simply because it really is too much for me. Let me explain:

In most 3D games, I can have the 3D up all the way no problem. No headaches, no dizziness, no nausea or any of that crap. PilotWings is the same way as far as headaches/dizziness/nausea go, but the depth to which the 3D goes actually makes it hard to see things that are close/far away from the screen because you literally can’t look at both at the same time. If that’s hard to understand, hold your finger up in front of your face and focus in on it. While still focusing on it, notice how everything in the background is in a sort of double vision. Now focus on the background, but look at your finger. See how your finger is double vision now? It’s the same in PilotWings: Resort. If you look at your avatar, the background is double vision. If you look towards things in the background, your avatar goes into double vision.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this. This is a really cool feature that adds a lot to immersion and a lot to the ability to perceive depth, but there is a limit, and frankly, this limit is reached after about the ¾ point on the 3D slider. Either way, that part is optional, right?

But you know what part isn’t optional? The having fun part.

Fun!

Okay, fine, rough segue, but I’m serious. As we’ve all come to expect from Nintendo titles (technically it’s developed by Monster Games, but whatever), you get three things with PilotWings: Resort:

– Great control
– Great accessibility
– Great soundtrack

When you put these things together, no matter if the story is great or the dialogue is amazing or the graphics are top-tier, the game will be fun to play, which is something that, unfortunately, most games are lacking. Other companies tend to rely on the feeling of accomplishment after you beat a game/battle/enemy/whatever (Call of Duty, Pokemon) or the collection of a bunch of useless items just for the sake of collecting things (Pokemon), but PilotWings is actually just fun to play whether I’m soaring high above the volcanic crater in Mount WuHu (Or Mount Playfun or Mount LavaCenter or something else witty; seriously, “WuHu Island”?), or if I’m struggling to keep control of my plane in one of the tough courses and failing miserably. Heck, sometimes I’m ignoring the level objectives entirely and flying around for no reason just because it’s fun. No accomplishment or story needed.

That being said, even though it’s fun to play, PW:R ends up being one of “those games” where everything that’s there is great, but there’s just not enough of it. I cannot tell you how much higher I would’ve thought of the game had it included a few more islands, a few more vehicles, and a few more f*cking Squirrel Suit missions.

Seriously. They let you use this awesome piece of awesome awesomeness, but for ONE MISSION. That’s IT.

Unfortunately, because of the fact that you’re tethered to the same island for the whole game, it can get rather dull in longer play sessions. Though I will say there was one time when I played for about an hour straight on just one mission where I had to hit a height of 1500 feet and then land at the 3-minute mark, but I couldn’t get 3 stars (out of a possible 3) no matter how hard I tried.

I was pretty upset.

But, other than that, PilotWings is mostly a “play for 15 minute bursts” type of game, which is great for a handheld. Not so great if every one of your launch titles is the exact same way, including the 90+ rated Super Street Fighter IV 3D. But don’t get me started on that piece of all-too-decent software.

Now, one good thing about the game is that it runs using presumably the same engine that Wii Sports Resort did, considering it uses the same assets. This is great, because it means lighting and textures are nice, and things look very smooth. The bad part about this is that it uses the same engine that Wii Sports Resort did, because it means it looks the same as every other Mii-using game ever made by any company ever.

Ever.

At least during the day time. The game cycles between day, evening, and night at will (I assume to allude to the fact that Nintendo can control time), and evening/night are both legitimately gorgeous and have a great atmosphere. Day time on the other hand, is bland and stupid looking. Yea, I said “stupid” in a review that you read on the Internet. We don’t believe in professionalism around these parts.

Similarly to the evening and night settings, though, is the music, which is beyond amazing. Especially the ‘Hang Glider Theme’, which flawlessly embodies the deliciously calm and smooth nature of the game, taking everything you’ve come to expect from a great soundtrack and matching it to something as unique and charming as PilotWings, which, despite its flaws, does manage those two things: It’s unique, and it’s charming. Sort of like that puppy you found on the street that was missing his left eye and had a foot that looked like it was ran over by a steam roller. Sure, he’s not perfect, but he’s unique and charming in his own special way.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been listening to the music from PilotWings: Resort as I write this review, and it’s making me want to play the game. So I’m gonna go do that, and you can sit and wallow in the fact that you don’t have the game yet, unless you don’t care, in which case you can sit and wallow in the fact that there are no good 3DS games out yet.

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7/10

Review summary, in metaphor: PilotWings: Resort is the lost puppy you find on the street who’s missing and eye and has a foot that looks like it was run over by a steam roller.

Don’t understand the summary? Well, maybe you should have read the review. Jerk.