Family Fun Football for Wii

I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about football. Other than the fact that the objective of the game is to score a touchdown by getting the ball into the other team’s end zone, that is. Sometimes I’ll sit down and watch with my husband, and take cues from him, but I’ve never really bothered to understand it. This is why I looked forward to playing Family Fun Football on the Wii. After playing it for a few hours, I still don’t get football, but I know all the terminology, at least!

As Tecmo’s newest video game for Nintendo Wii, Family Fun Football features:

• A Simple Playbook – Makes it easy for everyone to learn and understand the game of football.
• Colorful Stadiums – A total of five stadiums that include a fun mix of realistic and fantasy worlds such as a space themed stadium.
• Power-ups – Earn power-ups during gameplay to enhance certain attributes including speed, strength, passing, and interception for a limited amount of time.
• Teams – Ten unique teams with their own attributes that players can choose to compete with.
• Mii Compatibility: Load in your own Mii and play against your friends’ and family’s Miis for a more personal experience.

GAME PLAY
I popped the game into my Wii, and was first asked to create a profile. The game let me choose from our Miis. All very simple. I quickly learned that this is not the kind of game that you can just start playing right away, though. As casual as “Family Fun” sounds, you really must know a little bit about football to play. I was lost when I took a look at the playbook. What’s a blitz?

There are several different play modes to choose from:

• Quickplay – Select two teams and the stadium you want
• 
• to play in to get started right away. Up to four players can play.
• Season – Play through a nine game season, each game against a different opponent. Defeat every team to be the best.
• Tournament – Play your way through a double-elimination tournament and be the last team standing to win it all.
• Mascot Mode – Play as your team’s mascot, or as one of 10 unlockable mascots.
• Mini-Games – Ten fun and simple mini-games can be unlocked and played with up to four players.

I had to read through the instructions a couple of times before figuring out how to use the controls. For most plays, you have to hold the nunchuk and press a combination of buttons which was hard for this momma’s brain to remember. I would have liked to see different skill levels as an option. You can unlock up to ten mini-games during half-time that can be played later, as well as new stadiums and mascots.

GRAPHICS
I wasn’t terribly impressed by the graphics. The Miis look awkward. Much of everything was blurry during gameplay, but the stadiums are unique and impressive – Moonrock Field, Tecmodome, one with a pyramid theme, just to name a few. The mascots are cute and feature animals, luchadors, ninjas, pirates, aliens and robots.

BUY IT!
Family Fun Football for Wii is available now for $29.99 and is rated E – for Everyone. Too simple perhaps for hardcore video-gamers, this would probably be fun for football-crazy kids! Additional information, including a trailer and downloadable coloring book pages, can be found at www.familyfunfootball.com.

Other than a product sample, not compensation was received for this post.

Check out other great gift ideas in the 2009 Holiday Gift Guide!