Nintendo Land

Nintendo Land is a launch title for the Wii U, which was first released in North America on November 18th, 2012, Europe and Australia on November 30, 2012, and Japan on December 8, 2012. The game's setting is based on a virtual theme park, containing twelve minigames (referred to as attractions by Monita, the game's host) built around various Nintendo franchises, including four based on Mario and its subseries. The minigames are played using alongside up to four  (with ), and are intended to showcase the many new features of the Wii U.

In the US, Europe and Australia, Nintendo Land comes packed in with the Wii U Deluxe Set. It is also sold as a stand-alone product where players can buy it if they have the Basic Set.

Minigames
The minigames featured in Nintendo Land are divided into three distinct types:

Team attractions
These minigames involve every player co-operating in some way. However, it is possible to play these minigames with one player only. These are the largest and most expansive attractions in the game. Number of players: 1-5

Competitive attractions
These minigames involve the one player with the GamePad to pursue or be pursued by other players. Number of players: 2-5

Solo attractions
These minigames can be played only by a single player, but other players can help by using special abilities that the player with the GamePad cannot do, such as getting rid of obstacles in Captain Falcon Twister Race and freezing enemies in Takamaru's Ninja Castle.

Reception
The game has been well-received. GameXplain gave the single-player 4 stars out of 5 and the multi-player 4.5 stars out of 5 and referred to it as the best Nintendo multiplayer game since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. GamesMaster gave it and 86/100 (86%), describing it as "An essential purchase for party lovers that whets the Nintendo appetite. Bring friends." IGN gave it an 8.7 score out of 10, and GameSpot gave it a score of 8 out of 10.

Trivia

 * When heading to an attraction, at the start-up screen, the player can hear tunes from previous games of the series that the attraction is based on.
 * The player can use coins obtained in the minigames to play a kind of retro style pachinko mini-game. The player can win ? Blocks that, when opened, reveal different prizes based on objects found in the attractions.