Wii Fanboy Review: Guinness World Records
Back when I got my hands on Guinness World Records at E3, I was surprised at how engaging and fun the title was. Whether that was due to sheer exhaustion or the game actually being that good is anybody's guess. Luckily, the fine folks behind the game sent us a copy to review so we could decide, once and for all, if I was just crazy or if the game really was that good.
Which is it? Read on and find out!
You play most of Guinness World Records on a virtual globe, running about to different regions to participate in whatever challenges that are presented. Initially, a lot of the challenges will be locked, but as you succeed in those that aren't, more will be presented to you. Simple enough, right?
And what of these minigames? Well, there's plenty to go around here, each with their own unique controls and challenges. Some will downright frustrate you to no end (tearing phonebooks in half is hard) and some are easy to pick up and excel at (bashing watermelons). Overall, though, the mixture of minigames is very competent, with both quantity and quality being represented here. Of course, with it being a minigames compilation and all, the game is best enjoyed in small snippets or with others. Prolonged play can lead to boredom.
If you're a world record buff, then you're going to enjoy the wealth of information within the game. First, the game will occasionally toss these interesting world record factoids your way, breaking up the monotony of action with a thought-provoking account of a previous record breaker. On top of that, a lot of the challenges have you actually competing against the world record time for whichever event you're engaged in. It kind of allows you to see how difficult and tense it was for that person to complete that goal. Just, you know, in real life and not in a video game.
When engaging in these challenges, the controls can be a bit unforgiving. You'll notice that the motion controls aren't always up to snuff, increasing the frustration level when the clock is ticking down and you're trying to finish a challenge. This happens way too often.
On top of that, there's also online leaderboards. These aren't just for bragging rights between you and your friends, though. They track world records in a game about world records. Meta, right? Yeah, it is, and it helps to add a bit of replay value to the title, as miniscule a feature as it may be.
Guinness World Records: The Videogame is a very competent minigame compilation that has a variety of different and fun challenges. It's best enjoyed in the company of other people who will cheer you on or laugh at your misfortunes. By yourself, it's not so fun. So, if you're looking for something fun to play at your next Wii get-together, then this might be the game for you.
Final score: 6.5/10
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