Yar!

Sorry, I just had to get it out of my system. Zack & Wiki: Search for Barbaros' Treasure is a puzzle adventure game where you play as members of the Sea Rabbits pirate brigade who are looking for the long lost treasures of the ancient pirate Barbaros. The visuals for this game are great in their over-exaggerated style. Characters are full of expression and the bright colors just give off an overly friendly feel. Even the various enemies you will find in the game (centipedes, natives, etc.) are fun to look at.

The game's audio is pretty good too. The music stays in the background, but keeps you focused on the tasks at hand, but it's the game's sound effects that really shine. Characters (mostly Zach and Wiki) have various sounds associated with them to express everything from curiosity to surprise, and when these sounds are accompanied by the drama queen-esque animations -- the feeling is definitely conveyed.

Zack & Wiki: Search for Barbaros' Treasure is really an unusual game, at least for a console, and I hope it becomes one of those unique titles that becomes an example of how to create a game that uses the Wii's controls in a very different, but oh so right way.

The story is that Zach and his little flying monkey buddy, Wiki, are new members of the Sea Rabbits pirate gang. While flying to their hideout one day, the two find themselves crashed and stranded on an island where they soon discover the golden skull of Barbaros, a pirate who knows where a legendary treasure ship is resting. Now Zach and Wiki will travel all over the map looking for the lost 18 pieces of Barbaros so that he can tell them exactly where the ship is. Though the pirate doesn't seem to be telling the duo everything because he seems to know Wiki, even though the little guy doesn't remember Barbaros at all.

Levels are fairly straightforward. Zach and Wiki appear in an area near a treasure chest containing either a piece of Barbaros or a map to a new location (these typically come from boss levels). Puzzles are solved by turning various creatures into items. Yes, you read correctly. If you are close enough to a living creature, you can ring Wiki (simply by shaking your Wii-mote) and transform it into some kind of tool. This is a really innovative aspect because it adds a whole new dimension to your standard adventure game since you won't necessarily have every item you need immediately available and some obstacles might only be gotten past by itemizing them.

Another twist to the Zack & Wiki: Search for Barbaros' Treasure's mechanics is that you can only carry one item at a time. If you need to pick up a Frog Bomb, but you currently have a Gripper in your hand, the gripper will drop and the Frog Bomb will show up in your hands/inventory. Much like the itemizing aspect, this adds another level to the problems you have to solve since it might require multiple trips across the board.

Zack & Wiki: Search for Barbaros' Treasure has a slow buildup in difficulty. As you clear levels, more locations open up. There is a very noticeable increase in difficulty between the level you just finished and the one(s) it unlocked. Whether it is simply more steps that need to be done in order to get to the chest, a new type of enemy or a completely new mechanic, each level definitely adds something to the overall game.

That being said, the difficulty of the game depends a lot on your ability to think critically and figure out the different ways to use the items you've got available. Long time adventure gamers won't have many problems since they will be able to recognize most of the moves they will have to do when they first get into the level, while others might know what the next step is, but not necessarily what will be required of them after that.

Zack & Wiki: Search for Barbaros' Treasure's controls are a mix of standard point-and-click PC adventure game controls and wacky innovative Wii controls. As far as Search for Barbaros' Treasure as a point-and-click adventure is concerned, that's how you navigate through the world, simply point your Wii-mote at the part of land you want Zach to walk to and tap your (A) button. In order to pick up an object, just point at it and hit the (A). It is very simple and intuitive.

Besides being able to point and click on a console, where the Wii's "wacky controls" comes in involves using the item that is in your inventory with the environment. If you want to use your Centi-saw, just click on the item you want to cut, and when the saw appears, move your Wii-mote back and forth horizontally in front of you as if you were actually cutting the item. If you need to turn a crank, just grip the Wii-mote like you would the crank and move it in big circles. Other puzzles require you to turn an object you are holding around and toss it onto something. This is as simple as rotating the Wii-mote the same way you would the object and bumping the Wii-mote up (as if you tossed it, but not letting go). Much like the point-and-click aspect, this becomes really intuitive and even though you will encounter new types of objects that have to be manipulated in drastically different ways, it is always easy to figure out what you need to do with it.

I loved Zach & Wiki and would definitely recommend it -- it goes in anyone's library that also has games like Brain Age or just enjoys a good set of puzzles. It is very much worth the time, and if you still aren't convinced, rent it because you will probably want to buy it afterwards.