PilotWings Resort

Genre:	Flight Simulation
Critic Rating:	70/100 (Metacritic)
EU Release:	25 March, 2011
NA Release:	27 March, 2011
AUS Release:	14 April, 2011
JP Release:	14 April, 2011
Players:	1
Developer:	Nintendo EAD/Monster Games
PEGI Rating:	3
ESRB Rating:	E
CERO Rating:	A

Jump to: 1 Overview 2 Changes from the Series 3 Gameplay 4 Controls 5 Development 6 Release 7 Reception Buy PilotWings Resort Screenshots and images Trailers and Videos News and Features Chat

Overview

Pilotwings Resort is a flight simulation game for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a sequel to Pilotwings 64, which was released on the Nintendo 64 console in 1996. It is the third game in the series, the first being Pilotwings (released in 1990 for the SNES).

The game is set on the fictional Wuhu Island, which has previously appeared on Wii Fit Plus, Wii Fit, and Wii Sports Resort. Wuhu Island will also appear in Mario Kart 3DS as a separate track. The island includes new features, along with those seen in previous games. Pilotwings Resort allows the player to fly around Wuhu Island freely during daytime; unlockable evening and night modes are also included in the game. In addition to this, there are over 40 missions to complete.

Changes from the Series

Pilotwings Resort is the first game in the series to be set on Wuhu Island, and the first in which the player plays as a Mii character. It's also the first game in the series to be released in 3D and on a portable console. It is set on Wuhu Island, and a few other smaller Islands, rather than the four distinct islands in its Predeccesor. Its graphics have been much improved over its predecessors due to over a decade of technological advances. It is also the first in the series to not include playable characters, only Miis, with no differing abilities. Unlike, previous iterations of the game, Pilot Wings Resort is more forgiving of crash damage, and the crash sequence only appears if the crash is fatal, unlike Pilot Wings 64, which punished for grazing a wing on an object.

Gameplay

The game starts out in a booking center, with the receptionist getting the player's license ready with signature, and the player getting a feel of the three basic aircraft available, if the player chooses. From then on, players can explore and complete challenges around Wuhu Island in a Plane, Hang Glider, or Rocket Belt (also known as 'Jetpack'). Three variations of these vehicles become available during the course of the game, the Turbo Jet, Super Rocket Belt, and the Pedal Glider. There is also a Squirrel Suit, a skydiving suit, which is used in one mission. Each vehicle has different controls to provide a variety of gameplay experiences and challenges. Pilotwings Resort includes over 40 missions plus challenges in Free Flight Mode.

In free flight mode, the player is able to obtain 'i' points located near various landmarks on the island. These points give pieces of information on the places the player flies over, and are collectable items. Stunt rings are also able to be collected the plane and turbo jet, mii trophies are able to be collected by the rocket belt and super rocket belt, and golden rings are able to be collected by the hang glider and pedal glider. Records are given; for each play-through of Free Flight Mode, records will be compiled, based on how many rings, i points, and stunt rings found or completed in each session. Once finished with Free Flight mode, the most i points, golden rings, and stunt rings collected in one session will be available to see.

The player plays as a Mii, making Pilotwings Resort the first retail game on the Nintendo 3DS to use Mii characters. The player is also able to take in-game photos of iconic landmarks of Wuhu Island and save them to the Nintendo 3DS photo album, to share with others. However, taking photos is only possible when flying in a hang glider either in Free Flight mode or certain missions that allow the use of the in-game camera.

Mission Mode

This game mode has players flying through Wuhu Island in 40 missions ranging from training (easy) levels to platinum (very hard) levels. A typical mission includes flying through rings, bursting ballons, shooting targets or landing at sea or on targets, depending on if the player is using a plane, or if the player is using the hang glider or rocket belt. When landing a plane, points will be awarded based on where the plane stops on the landing pad and the impact of the plane when landing. Target landings are used for the hang glider and rocket belt; points are awarded based on where the player lands on the target- the closer to the center the player lands, the more points are awarded- and the impact upon landing on the target.

Some missions deviate from this formula and can have the player completing unique objectives, such as shooting balloons attached to a car, skydiving in a squirrel suit, or flying in a hang glider around the island, building up enough speed to break through a speed ring (which requires you to hit it at a certain speed indicated in the ring in order to complete). Points are allocated after missions based on various aspects that include rings to fly through, guide dots to follow, balloons to shoot down on certain missions, suspended tokens to fly through, speed blocks to break on hang glider missions, and landing for most missions. On each mission, the player is rated on a three-star basis, based on the score obtained. To unlock the next difficulty level, all missions in levels before must be completed, and a number of stars must be earned on levels in the previous difficulty.

Each of the Stages have their requirements getting a certain amount of stars needed before progress to the next rank.

These requirements are:

Training = 0 | Bronze =12 | Silver = 12 | Gold = 18 | Platinum = 18 |

As the player progresses through higher tiers, the missions in each tier increase and the requirements to get to the next tier increase. In the earlier tiers, one must only get two stars on each mission to pass, but the later missions require three. Once a mission is completed with a perfect score (in which case the outline of the three stars is red), the point cap is released and you are able to achieve higher-than-perfect scores.

From missions on bronze level upwards, the player has points deducted for crashing or making mistakes.

There is also a special Diamond Rank which can only be unlocked by getting 3 stars in other missions. These missions only use the three other aircrafts (Turbo Jet, Super Rocket Belt and Pedal Glider).

Free Flight Mode

This mode gives the player freedom to fly around Wuhu Island without any challenges to complete. Scattered around the island are 75 information points, 60 mii trophies, 60 gold rings, 60 stunt rings, and 120 ballons. Passing through a certain number of information points, or any other collectible, unlocks new content, such as evening and night modes. Once the player has completed all bronze missions they will be able to find balloons on Free Flight mode. Collecting balloons allows the player to increase the time of free flight mode. For example, once the player has collected 20 balloons, the Free Flight time limit will increase by thirty seconds.

By collecting a certain amount of information points, you can unlock the three different times of day to fly in. All of the locations and their corresponding number are below. Daytime has no prerequisites; it is unlocked at the beginning of the game. Evening is unlocked when the player collects 25 information points, and night time is unlocked when the player collects fifty i points. Depending on the time of day the player is flying in Free Flight mode, the I-points will describe the landmarks they represent differently.

1 Red Gate Bridge	2 Seaside Hotel	3 Blue Lagoon Hideaway	4 The Queen Peach	5 The Nineteenth Hole Hotel
6 Lakeside Castle	7 The Giant Candle	8 Mysterious Ancient Ruins	9 Windmill Park	10 Wobbly Bridge
11 The Shrieking Falls	12 Crab Rock	13 Yacht Harbor	14 Silky Soft Sandpit	15 Woodland Park
16 Menhirs Of Despair	17 Triton's Ring	18 Sugarsand Beach	19 New Town	20 Icarus Bluff
21 Camel Rock	22 Duckling Lake	23 Basketball Court	24 Bowling Alley	25 Colosseum
26 Pool Terrace	27 Wishing Fountain	28 Sea Cave Mouth	29 Menhirs Of The Forest	30 Golf Area A
31 Golf Area B	32 Golf Area C	33 Leisure Vehicle	34 Menhir Fragments	35 Hilltop Overlook
36 Mt Tenganamanga	37 Rocky Tunnel	38 Lighthouse Ring	39 Ring Road Tunnel No.1	40 Pich-Black Grotto
41 Sea Cave	42 Miguel’s Guide Plane	43 Silent Clock Tower	44 Palmtree Avenue	45 Heartbreak Peak
46 Ancient Dolmen	47 Lone Cedar Tree	48 Firework Launch Zone 1	49 Firework Launch Zone 2	50 Sweet Beach
51 Stardust Beach	52 Tennis Courts	53 Needlepoint Crag	54 Dead End	55 Clifftop Ruins
56 Entrance to the Ancient Ruins	57 Neptune's Ring	58 Spacious Desert Island	59 Small Desert Island	60 Ring Road Tunnel No.2
61 Twisty Passage	62 Menhirs Of Ember	63 Sunset Cape	64 Jogging Plaza	65 Bridge Under The Falls
66 Tunnel to the Cedar Tree	67 Wedge Island Marina	68 Magma Chamber	69 Landing Strip 1	70 Landing Strip 2
71 Floating Landing Pad 1	72 Floating Landing Pad 2	73 Landing Pad Blimp	74 Boost Gate	75 Mysterious Zone
76 Mecha Hawk

After you have collected all of these then the game creates a castle for you in your honour on the spacious desert island. Mecha Hawk is only available after getting three stars on every mission level including diamond. Although it says it is number 76 your location will still stay at what they were before if you collect the i point.

Dioramas

In this mode, 3D models of aircrafts and certain locations are available to view. This mode can be accessed when the player completes Gold Class in Mission Mode. To unlock the models, you need to collect Stunt Rings (only possible when flying the Plane), Mii Trophies (only possible when flying the Rocket Belt) and Gold Rings (only possible when flying the Hanglider) in Free Flight Mode. Each model is unlocked in increments of 20 (e.g. the first plane diorama is unlocked when 20 stunt rings are collected. And then every 20 after that until you reach 60 stunt rings).

Controls

Each aircraft in Pilotwings Resort uses a different control system.

Plane

The circle pad is moved for controlling direction; down to ascend, up to descend, left to tilt left and right to tilt right. In the options, you are able to invert the vertical flight controls. The A button can be used for a speed boost. The B button can be used to brake. In certain missions the Y button is used to shoot. The L and R buttons can be tapped once to bank, and twice to barrel roll. Both the L and R buttons can be pressed together to fly upside down. The D pad can be used to look around, and the X button is used to change the view.

Jetpack

The circle pad is moved upwards to move forward, and moved downwards to move backwards. The A button is used for a strong jet, and the B button is used for a weak jet. The L button is used to brake and hover. The R button is used to look down and the D pad is used to look around. The X button shifts the camera angle up, and the Y button shifts the camera angle down. When landing, the camera automatically shifts to improve the viewing angle. You are able to turn this off in the game's options.

Hang-glider

The circle pad is moved for controlling direction; down to ascend, up to descend, left to turn left and right to turn right. The B button is used to brake and land. The R button is used to take a photo and the L button is used to cancel a photo. The D pad is used to look around. Like the plane, you are able to invert the vertical controls in the game's options.

Other Aircraft

As well as the above aircraft, there are more vehicles to fly that are unlockable in Pilot Wings Resort as the player progresses through the game. These extra aircraft include the Turbo Jet, the Pedal Glider, the Rocket Shuttle, and the Squirrel Suit.

All of these have the same control schemes as their basic counterparts, except for the pedal glider, which uses the A button to pedal, instead of no acceleration button system for the Hang Glider. The player can also turn the propeller blades, but they can only be used for 7 seconds at a time as the player's Mii will tire out. These other aircraft are playable in Free Flight Mode after they have been flown in Mission Mode where the task has to be completed with a minimum of a 1 star rating. These other aircraft are similar to their basic counterparts, but they are usually harder to control. These aircraft can be accessed in Free Flight mode by accessing the basic plane, rocket belt, or hang glider options, and pressing right on the circle pad to see these extra aircraft, although they will not be available right away.

The squirrel suit is the only special device that is only available in mission mode, not in free flight mode.

Development

Pilotwings Resort was announced by Nintendo at E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) in June 2010 with a short playable demo. There were also playable demos at other Nintendo events, such as Nintendo World 2011 in Tokyo. Playable demos of Pilotwings Resort have also been at 3DS events in the UK, allowing members of the public to play free-flight mode or complete missions. Best Buys across the US are also are offering a demonstrative version of Pilotwings Resort.

Pilotwings Resort is the first iteration of the Pilot Wings series to not be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, instead, the game has been developed by Monster Games, previously known for developing Excite Truck, Excitebots, and Excitebike: World Rally.

Release

Pilotwings Resort was confirmed as a 3DS launch title in Europe by Official Nintendo Magazine, and was released on the 25th of March 2011, alongside the launch of the European 3DS. It was also released alongside the 3DS in North America on March 27th, and in Japan on February 26th. Australia, however, received the game at a later date, that date being April 14th, 2011.

Reception

Pilotwings Resort has often been near the top of 3DS Buzz's chart of greatest reader interest. Pilotwings Resort was given a rating of 8/10 by the video games website Eurogamer. The game was given a score of 81% by Official Nintendo Magazine, stating that the game "looks and feels amazing" but that there "isn't quite enough of it". North American based IGN has given the game a score of 7/10, stating that the game is fun while it lasts, but the game is too short and having Wuhu Island as the only area to fly is "disappointing".

Critics have noted the lack of leaderboards and online play. Metacritic, an online review compiler, has given the game a score of 70/100, with most reviews being "mixed". In most gaming websites, 7.0-7.9/10 scores are rated as "good".