Graphics: The graphics for Crossbow Training are taken from Twilight Princess, so there isn’t anything new here. The developers did a nice job of porting Twilight Princess‘ effective use of light and shadows to give Crossbow a rich texture. The game still looks beautiful, especially when playing levels where there are glimmering waterfalls or the outline of Hyrule Castle at night, but some variety could have gone a long way here.

Interface: The game is so amazingly straight forward; there isn’t much to interact with. Pick your level, point and shoot. It’s kind of nice to have something that gets you into the action quickly and effortlessly. The only complaint I have is that there aren’t many tips or directions on power-ups. It took me a long time to figure out that green blips on my radar were rapid fire upgrades for my crossbow that allowed me to shoot multiple arrows at a time. It also took me a very long while to learn that the only difference in points when shooting bullseye targets was that hitting the center was worth 30 points instead of 10. Little pieces of advice like this would have been helpful during loading screens, or during training.

Gameplay: Link’s Crossbow Training is a fun play once, but probably only once, and not in the way the developers intended. To put it bluntly, playing with the Wii Zapper is a pain and just plain unnecessary. The accessory itself is hard to set up, if only because wrapping all the wires inside of it is rather cumbersome, similar to working with tangled Christmas lights. Once you manage to set your zapper up correctly, it’s very difficult to aim, and extremely counterintuitive, as the player must control their character with the analog stick and aim simultaneously.

Eventually I just gave up on the whole Zapper device entirely and tried playing “normal” style, with the nun chuck in one hand, and Wiimote in the other. The result made for a far more positive experience. I felt as though I had more control over my aimer and actually enjoyed playing the levels. One of my favorite parts was playing the Defender role, acquiring the rapid-fire power-up, and mowing down hordes of approaching enemies by just holding down the trigger.

Multiplayer: To claim that there is multiplayer in Link’s Crossbow Training is actually a little bit misleading. It’s true that it’s an option from the main menu, but really playing “multiplayer” is the same as one person playing a Training level, writing their score down, then watching the next person play the exact same level, having them write down their score and then comparing the two. I’m a little baffled as to why there is no co-op or an option where two players compete for the most points. This could have been a really fun component to the game, and it’s sad the developers missed this opportunity.

Sound FX: The sound effects in the game are simple yet effective. The “thwang” of the arrows being released travels from the small speaker in the Wiimote and sounds as if it is flying into the screen. Sounds play a vital role in Crossbow, and the player must listen carefully in order to tell when an enemy has been completely defeated. For example, when facing off against the snow dogs, they require multiple shots to be thwarted, but upon hearing a specific yelp, it’s safe to assume they are down for the count.

Music: Crossbow Training is composed entirely of music from the Zelda series. The score usually consists of the Minigame Theme and Dungeon Theme from Twilight Princess. These soundtrack selections establish appropriate moods for everything from splintering wooden targets to taking down bad guys.

Difficulty: Getting used to the fast paced point and shoot gameplay may take a little while, but it won’t be long before gamers are tearing through the stages in no time. To unlock and simply beat the game will take most players about 90 minutes. The only option they have at that point is to go back and best their scores to earn higher medals. Even this is very little of a challenge, since it only takes a little bit of memorization to remember the order and location of targets and baddies. The game is a cake walk with very few obstacles.

Overall: Link’s Crossbow Training is a fun, but ultimately a forgettable game, and the Wii Zapper is a bit of a sham. Fans of the Zelda series will enjoy Crossbow Training a bit more than those who aren’t, but that’s only for nostalgia’s sake, and not due to actual game play. I dare say that there are many Wii point-and-shoot titles that offer more repeat playing than this one, which is a shame given the concept.