Daily Debate: Which Was the Better Party Game — Battle Quest or Link’s Crossbow Training?
Posted on September 04 2024 by Jared Eubanks
One of Nintendo’s most notable peculiarities is its love for quirky controller gimmicks. Zelda has been no stranger to this with the motion controls of the original Wii version of Skyward Sword, or the stylus controls of the two DS entries with Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Two less notable entries in the series which follow suit are Battle Quest, which is an Attraction within Nintendo Land on the Wii U, and Link’s Crossbow Training on the Wii. Both are great party games, but which was better?
Nintendo Land was Nintendo’s attempt to mimic the magic of Wii Sports with the Wii U. The game includes a carnival-like hub world surrounded by a ring of 12 Attractions, which are mini-games themed after some of Nintendo’s most storied franchises. Some of them are a blast to play, while some are wallowing in mediocrity, and yet others are total duds. The 12 Attractions center their gameplay mechanics around the Wii U GamePad with its asymmetric multiplayer ability, touch screen, and/or gyroscopic controls. For the asymmetric multiplayer games, the player with the Wii U GamePad has their own unique screen for the gameplay while up to four others with Wii Remotes play along on the TV. In Battle Quest, which is the Zelda attraction, the Wii U GamePad player is an archer shooting arrows using the gyro controls, while additional players use the Wii Remote’s motion controls to act as a sword-wielding hero much like Skyward Sword. The art style is a hybrid of Zelda and the Mii design in a universe akin to Yoshi’s Wooly World with its hand-sewn plush creatures. In terms of comparison with the other 11 Attractions, Battle Quest is one of the better ones and a joy to play in my opinion. Players can march through a quest of nine levels featuring classic environments from the Zelda saga.
As a kid, I caught the tail end of the heyday of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). One of my favorite pastimes was playing Duck Hunt with the peripheral Zapper gun controller. Nintendo sought to revive this excitement in a later console generation with the Wii Zapper. Unlike the NES Zapper, the Wii Zapper wasn’t an actual controller, and it was far more similar to the Wii Wheel used in Mario Kart Wii. It was a plastic housing where a Wii Remote and nunchuck were inserted to mimic a gun. It was marketed for shooter games as a more immersive playstyle than the typical Wii Remote plus nunchuck two-handed setup. Link’s Crossbow Training was one of the games Nintendo marched forward to demonstrate how engaging the Wii Zapper was. It utilized assets from Twilight Princess for the levels and enemies. Levels varied in type with more stationary ones with a more “target practice” feel in locales like Ordon Village. It also has “rail shooter” levels like floating down Zora’s River, and it has free movement levels similar to a third-person shooter game set in Arbiter’s Grounds. The multiplayer module allows for each player to pass through the same timed level while trying to achieve the highest score. It is asynchronous so players have to wait their turn, but it is a grand time to see who can get the greatest number of hits in succession to rack up combo bonuses.
Personally, I would give a slight edge to Battle Quest because it is a little more approachable for my eight year old son and allows us to use simultaneous multiplayer.
Have you used either of these games in a party setting passing the controller back and forth? Which brought the greatest number of laughs and cheers? Which drew in non-gamers or those unfamiliar with the Zelda series? Let us know in the comments below.
Jared Eubanks is a staff writer at Zelda Dungeon, and he is also a husband, father, and engineer. He is originally from the Atlanta, GA area and still lives there. He graduated from Georgia Tech and is a proud Yellow Jacket. He loves to play boardgames, build Lego, and read books with his family. He’s been gaming since childhood with the original NES and GameBoy, and he enjoys retro gaming, collecting, and modding consoles and handhelds. His favorite Zelda game is Breath of the Wild but is also fond of the older classic titles.
