Asynchronous multiplayer is another gameplay idea the Wii U controller introduces as seen in Battle Mii, but when I played the tech demo I started with the Wii remote.
I controlled a Mii outfitted in Samus’ power suit. My Mii had many of her powers from Metroid. I could shoot laser beams by pressing B; aiming was done with the Wii remote. Holding B would fire a mortar-like power bomb that arc upwards. The Z button made Samiius use the morph ball, which gave her a burst of speed as she rolled through the stage.
As Samiius, I had to take out another player flying her spaceship. While this was a two vs. one battle, the spaceship had six hit points. Each Samiius only had three. I zipped around as a ball. Not only was this faster, it made dodging lasers easier. I tried to target the other pilot player by taking a portal to a watch tower. I scanned the sky, but couldn’t find the ship until I looked below and saw it weaving through the blocky stage. I jumped down and blasted it. After getting shot, the ship had a momentary invincibility, so I had to roll away or risk being in the line of fire. With help from my partner, we took the ship down.
A Nintendo rep passed me the Wii U controller and it was my turn to fly Samus’ ship. The left analog stick moved the ship while the right stick controlled altitude. Shoulder buttons were used to shoot lasers and missiles, if you charged up. The tricky part about the controls was you had to move the Wii U controller to aim. Looking up or down changed the perspective of the camera similar to the built-in Nintendo 3DS game Face Shooting.
Before the battle began, I played a short tutorial where I flew Samus’ ship out of a hangar and blasted some flying targets. I got the hang of the controls and realized that staying in the sky made my ship vulnerable. I was too easy to spot, so I dropped to the ground. I swept around the corner and shot one of my opponents. Then swung around a corner, charged up a missile, and hit him again. With only one hit point left I hovered above waiting for a chance to strike. I took one shot of damage, but defeated one of the players.
The game wasn’t over yet. There was still one player to shoot and a heart to guard. This powerup, which spawned after I shot one Samus down could revive a player with one hit point. Only the surviving player can bring the injured player a heart, though. It wasn’t long until I tracked down the blue Samus Mii and won the battle leaving one player, a businessman from EDGAR, bewildered at what happened.
Battle Mii was designed to spark ideas about new types of multiplayer games. A Pokemon game where one person plants Pokémon to catch on the Wii U controller and the other players control trainers shown on the TV is possible. Perhaps, Wii U could even have a Dungeons & Dragons game where the dungeon master maps out a level on the Wii U controller while the other four characters venture in a dungeon on the TV?
