Defend Your Castle (WiiWare) review

Let’s cut straight to the point here. At its core, Defend You Castle is nothing more than a glorified Flash game. XGen Studios released a free Flash version of this same concept a while back that unwittingly spawned a small following of loyal defenders. The game was unquestionably entertaining, but here at WiiWare World we don’t want to waste our time encouraging carpal tunnel syndrome for the sake of some largely mindless click-and-drag gameplay. When it comes right down to it, we’d much rather pay for a game with intuitive controls, and this is where the WiiWare version comes in.

At 500 Wii points this version certainly requires more of a commitment to its straightforward concept, but it also has much more to offer; the Wii-mote controls give the experience some much-needed life and multiplayer allows the gameplay to come into its own. Add in a charming art style to boot, and you’ve got a solid game with no greater usefulness than to merely pass the time brutalizing any poor, stick-figured souls who rally against the tyrannical rule of your kingdom. That’s probably the best and worst statement you can make about it.