Pilotwings Resort Review for Nintendo 3DS

Fun in Flight

When you first start playing Pilotwings Resort, you receive a simple tutorial on flying. Then you can take the game’s three aircraft types out for a spin and test out your innate flying ability. As you pilot the rocket-belt, airplane, and glider around the world of Wuhu Island (yes, THAT Wuhu Island, of WiiSports Resort and WiiFit fame), it’s easy to think to yourself, “Yeah, I got this.” Zooming around the island in these early moments is effortless, and you may think you are the master of the skies. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but no, you are not as good as you think you are. And Pilotwings Resort is a game that will demonstrate how you can go from the heights of confidence to the depths of despair in just a few short minutes. Though the game starts off incredibly easy, by the end of it, your eyes may be bleeding from staring at the 3D visuals for too long, and you’ll be left wondering where it all went wrong.

Pilotwings Resort is not a bad game. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But if you look at its cutesy Mii characters and the tropical setting lifted directly from the casual-friendly WiiSports Resort, and think that this game is going to be pure fluff, you couldn’t be more wrong. Once you get past the initial free-flying mode, the difficulty ramps up incredibly, and makes Pilotwings Resort one of the most challenging games in the 3DS launch schedule.

There are two main modes in Pilotwings Resort: Free Flight and Mission Mode. Mission Mode is the main, linear mode that has you progressing through different levels of rapidly increasing difficulty. These missions include speed runs, item gathering, target shooting, picture-taking, and flying through hoops. Though these different missions start out separately, they start merging together in the higher difficulty levels, and the learning curve ramps up exponentially.

The difficulty in Pilotwings Resort is a tricky thing to describe, as the controls are actually very simple. You use the thumbstick to navigate, and you use the face buttons for boosting or accelerating. However, precise control is mandatory for success in Pilotwings Resort, and you have to nail your missions if you want to move on. The game uses a star-based scoring system that rewards you with a 1-3 star rating depending on how well you fulfilled the specific mission, how fast you did it, and what penalties you incurred during your flight. The rating system is actually really harsh, and achieving a three-star rating, even on the game’s lowest non-Training level is almost impossible without a dozen practice runs. Although the game is certainly not a hardcore simulator, the way you have to go back through levels to tweak your own moves certainly resembles one, and the difficulty level will probably be frustrating to those who pick it up and think the inclusion of Miis and a familiar setting automatically means it will be casual. It’s definitely not.

The repetition in the game may be frustrating, but love it or hate it, that’s where Pilotwings Resort gets a lot of its replay value. There aren’t actually that many levels to complete (there’s about forty across all the difficulty levels) but getting to the higher levels by bumping up your star rating in lower levels becomes incredibly time-consuming, but strangely addictive.

In addition to the mission mode, there is also a Free Flight mode. But don’t be fooled by the name, as this mode doesn’t just let you fly around Wuhu Island without purpose. The main goal in free flight mode is to fly around the island looking for collectibles. Get enough of these collectibles, and you’ll unlock new options in the game (like Night Flight mode). Though none of the rewards are really anything to write home about, Free Flight mode keeps a running checklist of all the unlockables you’ve found, and when there’s only a handful left, it can be very satisfying to find the last few items hidden in the nooks and crannies of Wuhu Island. Despite flying around it several times for the mission mode, there is a lot of undiscovered depth to the Wuhu Island setting, and exploring it can be satisfying if you need a break from the ridiculous difficulty of the mission mode.

Ironically, even though the game can be blisteringly difficult at times, the visuals are extremely tranquil. The sun always seems to be shining on Wuhu Island, and the sun reflections, gentle ocean waves, and lighthouse landmark all look beautiful. Sure, you may be swearing at your system for giving you a two-star rating yet again, but at least the view is nice. The 3D is also implemented well in Pilotwings, and actually improves the gameplay when enabled. You can see obstacles and gauge distances a lot better when the 3D is turned on, and I found myself to be a much better pilot when looking at things in 3D. There are a few gimmicky moments with the 3D (like when you fly over a suspension bridge), but the visuals mostly just add depth and perspective to the game.

Although I found myself really liking Pilotwings Resort, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there just wasn’t enough to the game. Though the 40+ missions in Mission Mode will take you quite a while to master, and there’s a lot to explore in the Free Flight mode, the experience felt like it was missing something overall. There’s no multiplayer mode, no dedicated time trial or raw scoring mode, and no StreetPass or AR mode. In a Nintendo 3DS launch title, I assumed that Pilotwings Resort would have pulled out all the stops and laid the features on thick, similarly to the way Nintendogs + Cats, and even Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition have. However, as it is, the whole package feels a little too simplistic, and comes off as almost like an elongated tech demo. Granted, it is a fun tech demo, and it will keep you amused for a few days. But after between ten and twelve hours, after you have beaten the mission mode and thoroughly explored Wuhu Island, what is there to draw you back in to Pilotwings Resort? Nothing.

I really like Pilotwings Resort, and if you are a fan of flying games, this title is definitely worth your time. However, if you have issues with challenging gameplay, or crave an experience that will last more than a few days, you may want to hold off on this one. I would really love to give this one a hearty recommendation, as I found plenty of enjoyment flying the various flying machines around and completing missions. But the game’s lack of content makes this one you should approach with trepidation if you aren’t immediately interested in the flying game’s premise.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.2 Graphics
Wuhu Island has never looked more beautiful, and the 3D is implemented wonderfully. 3.7 Control
The controls are tight and responsive, but are difficult to master. 3.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The background music is nice, but it can get repetitive after extended play. 3.0 Play Value
You can easily complete both the Mission and Free Flight modes in 10-12 hours, and there is really no reason to go back to the game once everything has been unlocked. 3.5 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.