Template:Infobox 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 GamePad alongside up to four Wii Remote (with Nunchuk), 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. It was removed from the Nintendo eShop in North America on November 10, 2013.

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

Image Name Description
  The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest Takes place in a The Legend of Zelda-based world, where the Miis are dressed up as Link, sharing Hearts. They must fight many enemies along the way. The player with   is an archer, providing backup, while the other players with   act as swordsmen.
  Pikmin Adventure This multi-player minigame is based on Pikmin. The player acts like Captain Olimar, using   and the stylus to control a group of Pikmin through missions to find the lost spaceship. The players with   act as giant Pikmin and fight alongside him.
  Metroid Blast Based on the Metroid series, the players dress up like Samus Aran in a space area. The   player drives a gunship, while the other players combat against or with them on ground.

Competitive attractions

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

Image Name Description
  Mario Chase Based on the Super Mario series, this minigame involves four players dressed as Toads running through a Mario-themed park to find a solo player who is dressed as Mario. The solo player can see where the team is on  . The Mario player runs faster than the Toad players, so the Toad players must cooperate to trap the Mario player.
  Luigi's Ghost Mansion In this minigame, four players are dressed as Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi. Each player tries to attack the solo player (in a Gold Ghost costume) using flashlights. However, the solo is invisible and can be seen only on  . The setting is a reference to Luigi's Mansion.
  Animal Crossing: Sweet Day The solo player controls two guards (dressed as Copper and Booker) and must chase the team players who try to collect a certain number of candies scattered throughout the town before time runs out. However, team players get slower each time they collect a candy.

Note: This game can actually play up to 6 players by having two players share   to control the guards cooperatively.

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.

Image Name Description
  Yoshi's Fruit Cart This attraction's name and gimmicks are based on the Yoshi series. The player must draw lines on  , starting from their cart, which is modeled after Yoshi. These lines will guide the cart when the game begins. The lines must coincide with every fruit, so the cart will pass through them in the order the fruits are numbered. When all the fruits are collected a door will open, and the cart must pass through it to clear the level. However, the fruit is invisible on the GamePad.
  Octopus Dance This game is based on the Game & Watch game Octopus. The player must memorize the moves of the character on the TV screen and repeat them using either the control sticks or the gyro sensor.
  Donkey Kong's Crash Course This minigame is aesthetically based on the arcade game Donkey Kong. The player must navigate through a series of paths and platforms by tilting  , which moves the player's cart, collecting bananas and checkpoint flags along the way. The   and   buttons are used to operate special white platforms.
  Takamaru's Ninja Castle This minigame is based on the Famicom game Nazo no Murasame Jō. Here, the player must use the   screen to throw shurikens at ninja enemies.
  Captain Falcon's Twister Race In this F-Zero-themed game, the player must guide a high-speed wind-up vehicle to the goal while holding   vertically. The player must avoid obstacles and follow the track by tilting   from side to side.
  Balloon Trip Breeze The player controls their character through the sky collecting balloons and avoiding obstacles, just like the NES game Balloon Fight.

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[1] and referred to it as the best Nintendo multiplayer game since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. GamesMaster gave it 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 [2].

Nintendo Land is the 2nd best selling game for the Wii U, selling 3.09 million copies worldwide, as of March 31, 2014.

Staff

Main article: List of Nintendo Land staff

Gallery

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Name in other languages

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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, this music grows louder the closer the player is to an attraction.
  • 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.

References

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