Help Wanted Review

By packing the disc full of mini-games, Hudson aims to corner the crowded Wii mini-game market with Help Wanted, a collection of games inspired by jobs such as fishing, delivery man, stunt driver, etc. Each of the games are very brief (most lasting just a few minutes) and test your motion control skills. The big question is, can a large collection of various mini-games be as satisfying as a regular game?

You are introduced to the world of Help Wanted through a series of wacky cutscenes that somehow culminates in you needing to work odd jobs to save the world from an approaching meteor. This light hearted approach to the story and the overall slapstick present throughout the presentation adds a nice touch to Help Wanted. It’s all silly fun, really, and sets you up for doing a bunch of odd jobs, something we would all need motivation to do.

The meat of the game is playing the mini-games over and over to earn more cash. This enables you to visit the in-game TV store to purchase additional outfits, which in turn unlocks even more mini-games to play. You can also buy collectibles and trinkets that add no real value to your character, but instead function like a model viewer bonus feature. It feels loosely like a role playing game, where you unlock new abilities (in this case, jobs) and level up in each mini- game. As you progress throughout the game, you build up skills in each particular game and eventually you rank up enough to unlock a more difficult variation of each mini-game. This mechanic allows for players to get more challenge and variety from the fifty mini-games.

I’ve already outlined a lot of the games that were in the preview build, and after having played the rest of the mini-games, I’m satisfied that there is a good balance of fun games in the final package. Certainly, one of the worries is that such a large collection of mini-games would be packed with horrendous ones, but that’s not the case with Help Wanted. I have come to appreciate some of the mini-games more since the preview build as well, such as the tailor one, because I realized that I wasn’t holding the Wiimote completely horizontal, and once I made that switch, the mini-game became much more fun.

In that sense, I do wish that there was more of a tutorial, because as simple as these games are, if you’re not doing the exact motion the devs require, your score and time will suffer greatly. Many of the adjustments you will have to make are subtle, like doing a quick flick of the wrist for the plucking vegetables mini-game rather than the long down and up motion shown in the instructions. But these little changes will make the difference between enjoying the game (and scoring well) versus being frustrated that the game is not responding well to your actions.

Some of the mini-games are available for multiplayer, where you win by completing the mini-game faster than your opponent, or by scoring more points than them. This can be fun for short bursts, and will likely be entertaining to any casual gamers who want to try out some Wii games. Just make sure you walk them through the proper way to play each game, since the instructions do a poor job of conveying the best way to play, as mentioned earlier.

Ultimately, the game is appealing to younger gamers and players who have not grown weary of mini-games on Wii. The gameplay does have a lot of variety and there is no doubt that, unlike other mini-game collections, Hudson has packed plenty of content here. Adding an overall goal (saving the world) and having more time to really learn the best way to control the mini-games made for a more enjoyable experience than I had for the preview build. Help Wanted on Wii works best, as many mini-game collections do, when you’re playing with family and friends who don’t play games often.