Defence Squad: Wii Music

In our series of Defence Squad posts, we'll be taking a look at games that have been pretty universally trashed by gaming reviewers, and come to their defence.

In recent years, the games that are developed or published by Nintendo have been pretty stellar – especially the games overseen by gaming God himself, Shigeru Miyamoto. Some people might decry the lack of "hardcore" games made by Nintendo (whatever that juvenile and ridiculous word means), but few people can deny that Nintendo has put a lot of effort into making pretty great casual games.

Well, except with Wii Music. Wii Music is the title that everyone uses as evidence that Nintendo lost their marbles and maybe let their (perceived) hubris get the best of them. People got all up in arms, basically claiming that Nintendo was selling them shit and calling it diamonds. THIS was the game that made the Wii the console of choice for soccer grandmas everywhere, apparently.

Except, I don't think that any of the people ripping on Wii Music either have the creativity to unlock its charms or are a little too used to having the expectations of the game laid out on the table. Where were the objectives? The high scores? The soundtrack with Pantera and Megadeth? Nowhere to be found. Instead, what gamers essentially got was an updated, less-abstract version of Nintendo's own Electroplankton.

The criticisms that I've seen laid out against Wii Music are basically that:

a) There are no objectives to be met with each of the musical pieces

b) The soundtrack sucks

c) Flailing your arms like a nincompoop to make music is ridiculous

d) There's not enough depth

And now, allow me to squash each of these criticisms:

a) The lack of objectives was a clear design choice. Music isn't, and shouldn't be, something that you "win" at. The overall design highlights the shift away from the Guitar Hero or Rock Band school of thought ("Here's someone else's song, now go and perfect it like you were a really uncreative cover band") and more towards the expression of the song performer. Yes, you're still performing someone else's songs, but you can play them in ways that make them sound nowhere close to the original, basically using the rhythm and key as a template to build your own song around. Or you can play the song as closely as possible to the original – it's your choice.

b) Who cares? The song choice is, once again, irrelevant to the design. Do I wish I could make a country version of Devo's "Jocko Homo"? Sure, who doesn't? But would I have just as much fun making a downtempo electronica version of "I'll Be There"? Yes, because I did exactly that. If you have enough of a creative mind, the song choice doesn't matter.

c) Once again, who cares? It's not any more ridiculous than the plastic instruments of Guitar Hero, and the cost isn't nearly as prohibitive. Plus, the game is all about its array of instruments, something that the Wiimote is, I think, more capable of doing than any other option would have been. If you're a drummer (like I am/pretend to be), the drum mode with the Balance Board offers an incredible amount of control that's pretty much unprecedented in music videogames. And it's really fun. I even hooked up my Wii to a TV and played Wii Music drums at an actual show, in an actual bar.

And playing this game with friends is a whole 'nother ball game. It rules. It is incredibly fun.

d) I would suggest that this game offers way more depth than people give it credit for. Sure, you don't have control over individual notes, but with enough practice you can basically make your songs sound however you want them to. I think what people are mistaking for lack of depth is actually an unwillingness to dive headfirst into the game. After all, the game is really just that classic Nintendo design – simple to grasp, difficult to master. I'm still mastering it to this day, over a year after I first got the game for Christmas.

Now, obviously, the game's not perfect. The midi samples are sometimes pretty weak, and some of the minigames, while challenging, don't offer as much as the main Jam mode.  But I think this was a case of people's expectations not lining up with what the product gave them. The game is surprisingly experimental for such a mass market release, which is maybe why it lines up with my sensibilities so well. Also, it is awesome to make a timpani symphony.

Seriously, how can you turn down a game that the Right Reverend Run endorses?