Nintendo Land

Template:Infobox Nintendo Land is a launch title for the Wii U, which was first released in North America on November 18th, 2012, Europe and Australia on November 30, 2012, and Japan on December 8, 2012. The game's setting is based on a virtual theme park, containing twelve minigames (referred to as attractions by Monita, the game's host) built around various Nintendo franchises, including four based on Mario and its subseries. The minigames are played using the alongside up to four (with ), and are intended to showcase the many features of the new system.

In the US, Europe and Australia, Nintendo Land comes packed in with the Wii U Deluxe Set. It also is sold as a stand-alone product where players can buy it if they have the Basic set.

Minigames

The minigames featured in Nintendo Land are divided into three distinct types:

Team Attractions

These minigames involve every player co-operating in some way. However, it is possible to play these minigames with one player only. These are the largest and most expansive attractions in the game. Number of players: 1-5

Image	Name	Description
	The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest	Takes place in a The Legend of Zelda-based world, where the Miis are dressed up as Link, sharing Hearts. They must fight many enemies along the way. The player with the is an archer, providing backup, while the other players with the act as swordsmen.
	Pikmin Adventure	This multi-player minigame is based on Pikmin. The player acts like Captain Olimar, using the and the stylus to control a group of Pikmin through missions to find the lost spaceship. The players with the act as giant Pikmin and fight alongside him.
	Metroid Blast	Based on the Metroid series, the players dress up like Samus Aran in a space area. The player drives a gunship, while the other players combat against or with them on ground.

Competitive Attractions

These minigames involve the one player with the GamePad to pursue or be pursued by other players. Number of players: 2-5

Image	Name	Description
	Mario Chase	Based on the Super Mario series, this minigame involves four players dressed as Toads running through a Mario-themed park to find a solo player who is dressed as Mario. The solo player can see where the team is on screen. It is harder for the Toads, because Mario runs faster.
	Luigi's Ghost Mansion	In this minigame, four players are dressed as Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi. Each player tries to attack the solo player (in a Gold Ghost costume) using flashlights. However, the solo is invisible and can only be seen on . The setting is a reference to Luigi's Mansion.
	Animal Crossing: Sweet Day	The solo player controls two guards (dressed as Copper and Booker) and must chase the team players, who try to collect a certain number of candies scattered throughout the town before time runs out. However, they get slower each time they collect a candy.

Solo Attractions

These minigames can only be played by a single player. Other players can help by using special abilities that the player with the GamePad cannot do, such as getting rid of obstacles in Captain Falcon Twister Race and freezing enemies in Takamaru's Ninja Castle.

Image	Name	Description
	Yoshi's Fruit Cart	This attraction's name and gimmicks are based on the Yoshi series. The player must draw lines on the , starting from their cart, which is modeled after Yoshi. These lines will guide the cart when the game begins. The lines must coincide with every fruit, so the cart will pass through them in the order the fruits are numbered. When all the fruits are collected a door will open, and the cart must pass through it to clear the level. However, the fruit is invisible on the GamePad.
	Octopus Dance	This game is based on the Game & Watch game Octopus. The player must memorize the moves of the character on the TV screen, and repeat them using either the control sticks or the gyro sensor.
	Donkey Kong's Crash Course	This minigame is aesthetically based on the arcade game Donkey Kong. The player must navigate through a series of paths and platforms by tilting , which moves the player's cart, collecting bananas and checkpoint flags along the way. The and buttons are used to operate special white platforms.
	Takamaru's Ninja Castle	This minigame is based on the Famicom game Nazo no Murasame Jō. Here, the player must use the screen to throw shurikens at ninja enemies.
	Captain Falcon's Twister Race	In this F-Zero-themed game, the player must guide a high-speed wind-up vehicle to the goal while holding the vertically. The player must avoid obstacles and follow the track by tilting the from side to side.
	Balloon Trip Breeze	The player controls their character through the sky collecting balloons and avoiding obstacles, just the NES game Balloon Fight.

Reception

The game has been well-received. GameXplain gave the single-player 4 stars out of 5 and the multi-player 4.5 stars out of 5 and referred to it as the best Nintendo multiplayer game since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. GamesMaster gave it and 86/100 (86%), describing it as "An essential purchase for party lovers that whets the Nintendo appetite. Bring friends." IGN gave it an 8.7 score out of 10, and GameSpot gave it a score of 8 out of 10 .

Trivia

• When heading to an attraction, at the start-up screen, the player can hear tunes from previous games of the series that the attraction is based on.
• The player can use coins obtained in the minigames to play a kind of retro style pachinko mini-game. The player can win ? Blocks that, when opened, reveal different prizes based on objects found in the attractions.