Parents' Guide to

Nintendo Land

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Fun, family-friendly mini-games open the door to Wii U.

Game Nintendo Wii U 2012
Nintendo Land Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Nintendo Land Game: Screenshot #1
  • Nintendo Land Game: Screenshot #2
  • Nintendo Land Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 7 parent reviews

jcmcdowell
jcmcdowell Adult
May 26, 2020
age 7+

Absolutely Amazing!

I just played this game at my friend’s house the other day, and it is the bomb! We played “Mario Chase” and “Luigi’s Ghost Mansion”, and I really liked trying out all the roles, like being the runner and the chaser in “Mario Chase” and being the ghost and the hunter in “Luigi’s Ghost Mansion”. I also love that the games in Nintendo Land are kid-friendly, just like Wii games. I highly recommend it for kids, and I love how, like the Wii, you can create your very own Mii. This game set is incredible and everyone needs to try it, because it is a good way to seek entertainment!

This title has:

Easy to play/use
Too much violence
Too much consumerism
Justinahere
Justinahere Adult
May 16, 2020
age 7+

Fun game to play

Appropriate for all kids and very fun!

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
See all 7 parent reviews

What’s It About?

NINTENDO LAND is a collection of 12 theme park mini-games meant to help acquaint new Wii U owners with Nintendo's console. Each activity is designed to show players different ways they can interact with their games. For example, kids will need to work with different images presented on their TV and the Wii U GamePad as they draw paths for Yoshi to follow and collect fruit in Yoshi's Fruit Cart. They'll flip the GamePad on its side and tilt it left and right to steer a racing machine in Captain Falcon's Twister Race. And they'll swipe the screen to throw shuriken and create balloon-pushing breezes in Takamaru's Ninja Castle and Balloon Trip Breeze, respectively. Other games introduce players to the notion of asymmetric play; the idea that multiple players can play the same game in very different ways. Mario Chase, for example, has one player looking at the GamePad screen, searching for and chasing others who are viewing the action presented from a different angle on their TV screens. The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest shows how one member of a team can use the GamePad's motion sensors to target enemies with a bow while others can use Wii remotes to fight with swords. As players work through these games -- individually or in multi-game tournaments accessed via the Nintendo Land train -- they'll earn coins that they can spend in a Peggle-style game that outputs prizes used to decorate the park.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7):
Kids say (27):

Nintendo Land serves the same purpose as the original Wii's Wii Sports, introducing players to the sort of experiences enabled by the system's innovative touch-screen-equipped Wii U GamePad. The concept of players having very different play experiences with the same game is unusual and perhaps in need of some hands-on examples, which is exactly what this game provides.

What's more, the games are surprisingly fun and often quite challenging. No one is likely to zoom through any of the single-player games in their first, second, or even third go. And loads of unlockable extras give players good reason to keep playing and perfecting their skills. It's not the sort of game that will satisfy a traditional gamer looking for deep, lengthy experiences, but it is the kind of game that will repeatedly be brought out to show friends how the system works while delivering some all-ages fun and no shortage of laughs for the family that owns it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about teamwork. Do you prefer playing alone against your friends, or do you like working as a team and communicating with your friends to create strategies?

  • Families can also discuss consumerism. How do you feel when you see the Nintendo logo or pictures of characters that appear in its games? Do you think a company might use this feeling to try to get you to buy more of its products? How do you decide which ones are worth your money and which ones aren't?

Game Details

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