The Destiny of Zorro (Wii)

ZORRO features the heroic exploits of the classic masked crusader in 19th century Mexico. Players take command of Zorro in 3rd person view and complete a series of missions. The story, though very thin, follows Zorro's quest to bring exploitative landowners to justice by fighting them and their henchmen, culminating in combat with a minotaur-headed villain.

Your sword and whip mostly serve as weapons, though at times you'll break objects open to trigger events or use the whip to swing across environments. By using the Wii remote to make slashing and striking gestures, your actions translate to in-game use of weapons. Special moves are performed by "drawing" symbols – including the Zorro's signiture 'Z' - with your remote via a series of movements in correct sequence and direction. The Wii nunchuck is required, and is used for moving Zorro around the levels.

Skillfully slicing symbols into the environment with a sword and whip seem like an ideal way to use the Wii's motion controls, but Zorro just doesn't – ahem – cut it. Poor graphics and frustratingly inaccurate controls will disappoint even fans of the Zorro character and universe. There's nothing so maddening as a game that handicaps a beloved superhero with weak production values and clunky gameplay.

Even in tutorial mode the moves are nearly impossible to correctly execute and when you finally do nail a combination, it feels more like luck than skill. Compounding matters, there are no difficulty settings. The game's last-generation graphics and awkward camera angles don't help either. The Destiny of Zorro, in short, feels unfinished and sloppy.

Available on: Nintendo Wii
Not available online
Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer: 505 Games
Released on: May 6, 2009
Price: 39.99
ESRB Rating: E10+ for Mild Violence