Wii Play - A small but neat package of minigames...some better than others [ENG/ESP]
Published on HivePostify by @acstriker · Thu Sep 03 2026
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Wii Play is kind of an odd title when it sits next to the classic Wii Sports game and even the later released Wii Party (even if not exactly as beloved as the Mario Party games), as it is a mix of different minigames that do something quite different. Some are extremely simple, while others have some more tricks up their sleeve to extend playtime - with one particular highlight being arguably the most in-retrospective renowned part of Wii Play.
But turns out that Wii Play is basically a direct brother to Wii Sports, only that it got a later release a year after the Wii dropped in North America due to how they instead got Wii Sports as a pack-in game, yet in other regions it actually was released at launch for the Wii (although not as pack-in, but there's a story about how Reggie was the one who got Wii Sports to be the pack-in game in NA instead of Wii Play as initially intended).
And at least people who wanted a Wiimote in North America could grab this game as it included one as a nice gift (arguably to offset its late arrival and less sizeable amoutn of content compared to the already included Wii Sports).
In any case, since this is basically 9 minigames in one disc, I'll just talk about them one by one, highlighting more of them if they have something to discuss further than the basic premise. Besides how you only can start unlocking medals for your performance of them after you've played all 9 of them once and then be playing with a custom Mii.
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Shooting Range - Ducks not mandatory to be hunted...but still available
The one at the thumbnail, it's a simple 5-phase minigame about shooting stuff, as the name might have already implied.
The first phase is about shooting rising balloons, then the second one has you shoot circular targets (normal ones give one point, gold ones give 5, but shooting targets with your face deducts points), then the third one is about shooting clay discs, which feels like an intentional throwback to the clay shooting side game in Duck Hunt.
And on the note of references, the fourth phase is loosely based off Hogan Alley's Game C mode where you have to shoot cans, only that here the goal is to shoot each can at least 5 times to destroy them for more points. But it can be a bit difficult since each shot makes them fall faster each time, and you'll have to juggle two to three cans by the end of it.
...Then the final one is having to shoot away UFOs to stop them from stealing your six Miis. It reminds me of Point Blank since that also had a similar minigame - although here you're meant to shoot them all down if you want the extra points for having all six safe.
Besides all what I mentioned, it does also have a little extra challenge in the form of bonus points for keeping up a combo of shots without missing, which encourages getting good with your accuracy when shooting targets one after another. Although keeping a perfect combo is arguably the toughest part if you somehow make it to the final phase due to the amount of UFOs and how fast they might get away if you don't rapidly shoot at them.
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Find Mii - Finding twins or triplets can be harder than you think
The premise of this one is simple, as you're always given an instruction before each level. Usually its finding two look-a-likes (basically two miis with the exact same face), but sometimes its finding "the odd one out" (in Level 5 there's a beginner's trap in how you might not realize that in that level you need to look for the Miis that are looking the opposite way from the rest), sometimes its finding the fastest Mii moving among the rest, and sometimes its as simple as finding a certain Mii (whether the one you choose or one selected by the game).
But stages will quickly start to vary as you make progress, from a bunch of Miis walking down a street, swimming down a river, going up and down in a bunch of electric escalators, floating in space, or even standing still but on a pitch dark screen where your pointer is a flashlight. It is all about pointing at the screen and selecting the Miis you want, but while you get 10 extra seconds for every level cleared, you lose 5 points anytime you make a mistake (select two/three mismatched Miis or select the incorrect Mii).
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Rally - Ping Pong but you can die really fast
You move the Wiimote left and right to move a paddle and send back the ball. Very simple idea, and keeping up the rally is all there is to this minigame. But if you are a completionist, then it will be deceptively difficult due to how the ball can speed up gradually on every bounce, as well as the small size of the board...and one singular mistake is the end of the minigame.
Despite that though, it is more akin to a microgame due to how that's all there is to this one: You keep trying to bounce back the ball, and one slip means you start from scratch to try getting a higher combo.
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Pose Mii - Pose and twist it to pop bubbles
This is funnily enough the most abstract minigame in the game due to what it asks you: You aim at the screen to move your Mii, use the buttons to make it change poses, and must make your Mii fit in the slots shown in the bubbles to pop them, with the goal being to prevent them from falling at the bottom of the screen (three mistakes is a game over).
...And you also have to twist the Wiimote to twist your Mii accordingly when the bubbles start appearing tilted, appear to slowly tilt, or even appear upside down. Initially its just one post at once so that you get used to tilting the Mii, but later there'll be two to there poses active at once and adds up to some chaos to manage.
The only saving grace to make that easier is popping bubbles with a rainbow pose, as that will temporarily freeze all bubbles until time runs out or you clear all the bubbles on screen before that.
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Laser Hockey - Hockey with glowing paddles and Wiimotes
...It's table hockey but you move and twist the paddles with the Wiimote. Funny to think that maybe this is where that one Glow Hockey android game actually took inspiration from, since its kind of a funny coincidence this existed before that.
Getting medals in this one basically amounts to how many times you can score against the CPU, although sometimes it might get the ball stuck for a bit in the corner, and other times it might mess up and goal itself. But yeah, it's basically what you see, so there isn't much to say here just like with Rally.
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Billards - I don't need to tell you what this is, other than that it uses motion controls
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Fishing - Despite how it looks, I do have to explain this one a bit
It's basically a fishing minigame instead of something...you know, more elaborate (like SEGA Bass Fishing, which is already arcadey by fishing game standards, but still has a lot). You move the rod to try get close to big fishes, and have to pull the Wiimote upwards as soon as you see the "Yank it in" if you know its the fish you wanted.
Although if you fish up a Small Fry (the gray small fish), you'll LOSE points. Other than that, you want to go for the big ones, or really, any fish you can get - although the bigger ones award more points. But if you grab the type of fish shown above under the bonus icon, you'll get more points for catching said fish.
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Charge! - Scarecrow Ramming Simulator
How nice that I can finally think of a more creative title to describe it.
...Because that's basically the premise: You ride the cow by holding the Wiimote sideways for the first time in the game, tilt sideways to steer, tilt at the screen to make the cow go faster, and move the Wiimote upwards quickly to jump. The rest is ramming the scarecrows, getting more points if you hit full rows of them, as well as running into bonus red scarecrows that give more points. Getting through it all faster can also award you with bonus points from the remaining time.
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Tanks! - The strangely in-depth game that's more well known that Wii Play itself
Tanks is basically the opposite of Rally and Laser Hockey where it has an absurdly surprising amount of nuance to it, and even a more surprising amount of levels beyond what is needed for the Platinum Medal.
As it is made to make use of the Wiimote, you aim the turret by pointing at the screen, while moving with either the D-Pad or the Nunchuck stick (if you have one plugged), but don't be fooled by the first few screens - those pesky tanks you have to fight through are more dangerous than you might think.
Your shots can bounce ONCE from walls and then get destroyed on contact with another one. This also applies for enemy tanks that don't shoot "rocket bullets" like the green ones (as said rocket shots can't bounce off walls), meaning you can plan for strategic bounce shots to get an enemy without running straight into them...and can also get yourself killed by accident by shooting at a wall and the bullet bouncing back at you.
And there's a variety of enemy types judging by their colors - the brown tank is always static, the gray tank moves and shoots, the aforementioned green tanks can shoot rockets, yellow tanks can place mines on top of shooting, and there's probably a few more awaiting as you go on.
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...And that's all. The main reason to replay this besides trying it with others would have to be trying to get the medals, even if for some of the minigames it seems down more to luck with the things you need more than consistent skill. But at least the ones that are fairly reliant on skill might get you to come back frequently to perfect your score for good measure.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time.
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Tags: #gaming#spanish#hgc#wii#wiiplay#mii#nintendowii