➤ The Wii also needs speed 🎮

Version tested: Nintendo Wii

It is a complicated relationship that links the popular Need for Speed series to Nintendo's flagship console. The Electronic Arts franchise has always focused on the spectacularity of the action, adapting the structure of its episodes to the technical capabilities of the platforms on which they were intended to shoot. It is therefore clear that the developers found themselves in difficulty in dealing with the Wii, a system capable of great things from the point of view of interaction but obviously backward in terms of computational capacity.

Insisting on redesigning products made for the next generation consoles in a poorer guise has proved to be a questionable strategy, and it is no wonder that the best chapter ever to appear on Wii, Need for Speed: Nitro, is the only one to be completely disconnected from HD incarnations of the series. In that case it was decided to use a cartoon style, with cars with huge wheels that shot very fast inside well-built cities, despite their architectural simplicity. While referring to the excellent episode released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, in its Wii version, does not make the mistake of taking a step back and instead tries the "middle way" card, offering us a racing game different in structure and ambitions, but undoubtedly with consistent numbers and good playability. Net of the shortcomings, of course.

Leave the wheel at home

Like all newer Wii titles, Hot Pursuit supports any type of control system configuration. We can therefore play by holding the Wii-mote horizontally (or, better, use a steering wheel-shaped adapter), connect the Nunchuk to drive via the analog stick, resort to the more conventional solution offered by the Classic Controller or even retrieve a GameCube controller. . Let's say immediately that the last method turns out to be the best ever, given the quality of the device and the presence of two excellent analog triggers.

The Classic Controller follows closely, which, as already mentioned on other occasions, suffers due to the not very ergonomic line but above all due to the poor quality of the keys, equipped with a far from fluid travel. A "classic" experience from many points of view, certainly far from what are the prerogatives of the Wii, but in the end there is nothing to do: it works better. Using the Wii-mote / Nunchuk combo represents the only viable solution if we do not have an alternative controller: the analog stick appears reliable, while the accelerator placed on the B trigger on one side benefits from the analog input, from the other is inconvenient in the long run. Finally, we come to what on paper must have been the configuration closest to the reality of driving: the Wii-mote held horizontally, preferably placed in a steering wheel-shaped adapter. There is nothing wrong with this solution, in the sense that the brake and accelerator management is simple and immediate, just as the device receives the inclination well and translates it faithfully on the screen. What just doesn't work is the behavior of the car during the drift, which willy-nilly is one of the key elements of the gameplay of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The problem is not so much making the car slip, but correcting its trajectory once you are in the middle of a powerslide: using the Wii-mote alone, the maneuver becomes really complicated and frustrating.

Globetrotter flower

Armed preferably with a Classic Controller, therefore, we can access three different game modes: a local multiplayer (unfortunately there is no online) for up to four players in split-screen, a fast race with stipulation and track of your choice or The carreer. The latter constitutes the fulcrum of Hot Pursuit, thanks to the large number of unlockable cars and the presence of five different locations, divided in turn into four sections, each containing four individual races (apart from the boss fight, which alone occupies a "section").

A lot of things to do, in short! The scenarios are Chongqing, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas and the Grand Prix, and alternate split cities and bad areas, urban roads and ring roads, in a well-assorted mix of closed circuits and linear tracks. The individual races that must be tackled in each area boast a different stipulation from time to time: the "Hot Pursuit" events are presented as simple speed races for a variable number of competitors, in which to win it is enough to cross the finish line first; "Eliminator" is instead an intense and exciting challenge that is regulated by a redundant timer, which eliminates the car that is in the last position when it expires; "Hour of Peak" sees us face a hundred opponents at the same time, with the aim of overcoming a certain number before each checkpoint; finally, the boss fight is based on reaching a few checkpoints before the other car, trying to guess the right side street on the map to get there first. In the "quick game" there is also the "Interceptor" mode, in which you put on the police uniform and launch into spectacular races in the "Chase HQ" style, or rather with the task of ramming and stopping a certain number of outlaw pilots. . All this is accompanied by a technical realization only slightly higher than the (very bad) average of Wii games: low polygon count, simple colors, few textures and some slowdown in the most excited phases. However, the action runs fast and the soundtrack is interesting at times.

Comment

Resources4Gaming.com

7.2

Readers (39)

6.6

Your vote

While sharing the title with the episode available for HD consoles, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for Wii it presents itself as a completely different game, in many ways simpler but with a good number of events and modes. The graphics are simple but fluid, the gameplay is distinctly arcade and, once framed, manages to entertain without too many frills, thanks to the numerous upgrades and the ubiquitous nitro. The motion detection controls unfortunately turn out to be not very precise, especially as regards the drift management: much better the Classic Controller or, at worst, the analog stick of the Nunchuk. Finally, sorry for the lack of online multiplayer, which would certainly have enriched the experience. Not a faithful conversion of Hot Pursuit, ultimately, but still a pleasant and engaging title, to be taken into consideration.