Wii Music

Wii Music is probably Nintendo's most well-meaning game ever.

The game is a great learning tool for the musically inexperienced. It teaches rhythm and music composition, and helps foster creativity. Its focus is totally different from the more typical rhythm games, and it accomplishes its goal. However, the game is not meant for solo play and isn't really suited for the more musically apt, either.

Wii Music is Wii's "Nintendogs." It's not a traditional videogame with challenges and goals, it's an interactive playground. While some gamers will "get it" and have some fun with it, they'll likely abandon it after a little while. Most hard-core gamers will stay far away.

Some might call Wii Music a waste of time, but in reality you need to understand what Nintendo was going for. It’s fun and basic. It’s not trying to be Guitar Hero or Rock Band, and really it does its own thing.

More than any other ‘Wii’-branded Nintendo offering, Wii Music truly demands an open mind to appreciate. Join the party with too many expectations – in either direction – and you’re likely to walk away either bewildered, disappointed or disgusted.

Overall, it's a well-rounded package that demonstrates something new, tries to bring a realistic yet fun appeal to playing music, with playing around the basic tune being the main pulling factor.

Like Wii Sports before it, this game knows its audience and how to keep them entertained. [Christmas 2008, p.117]

Wii Music's biggest downfall, oddly, is its music. [Dec 2008, p.64]

A fantastic game for families and casual players who may be interested in a friendly, gentle ‘my first music lesson”.

Wii Music is fun and charming, but it's also simple and shallow.

If you believe games are non-competitive ways to express yourself and where not much effort is required, then you will probably love Wii Music. However, if you believe games are all about skill, scores, and hard work, then you probably won’t enjoy this title at all.

Old and young should have no problem finding joy in the game, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Wii Music offers dozens of instruments and songs, but if you don't love playing music or have a great sense of rythm, it gets tiring after few hours. This title can't be considered a good videogame because it requires a lot of time and hard work to fully enjoy it. If you are able to pass all the lessons, you may have a great time with it, otherwise, we don't recommend it.

Ultimately, the longevity of the game depends on how much fun you can derive from improvising with a lackluster soundtrack.

This kind of open-ended, creative gameplay is theoretically what people want "these days", but I think many gamers will be disappointed and not really know what to do with the game. Wii Music has been crippled by a disappointing song selection (mostly nursery rhymes or Nintendo theme tunes) and will probably only appeal to much younger gamers or really musical types.

Using the note charts makes playing Wii Music tolerable, but if you try to free form it be prepared for disaster. It’s more of an educational experience for dedicated participants, but the poor sound samples, ancient song selection, and poor controls will have many players quitting the band before its first real gig.

All promise, no pay-off: In Wii Music, a great gaming idea hits the skids with a bum control scheme, weak song selection, and mediocre graphics.

Most adults will quickly recognize that Wii Music is little more than a noise maker tied to a series of gestures and grow bored of the experience in a matter of hours, if not minutes. The controls aren't particularly intuitive , but gimmicky, and the selection of music is fundamentally flawed with both dated public domain songs rendered in equally dated MIDI.

I just can't recommend this game to anyone but the youngest, most easily entertained gamers out there.

Pointless minigames failed to hold our interest, while a horrid MIDI-based soundtrack, comprised of "hits" like Happy Birthday and Jingle Bell Rock, had us reaching for Guitar Hero.

Once this novelty wears off, there’s not a lot of longevity here.