Zack and Wiki is an adventure worth taking on.
So you basically play as Zack, who aspires to become the greatest pirate ever. He is accompanied by his flying monkey companion, Wiki. They join into a pirate gang, called the "Sea Rabbits". While they're on the way to the Sea Rabbit base, their plane crash lands onto an island. On the island, Zack and Wiki discover a treasure chest, which contains the cursed spirit of Barabaros, an ancient and famous pirate lord. He works out a deal with you; if you restore his body back together, he will lead you to treasure island and promises you a legendary ship. Obviously, Zack can't refuse such an offer like this if he wants to become the best pirate ever. This sets up the game's story, which isn't all that engaging, but nevertheless gets the job done.
After encountering Barbaros, you are sent across the land to find the rest of Barbaros' body through gold pieces. You find these through puzzle filled stages, whereas your ultimate goal is to get the treasure chest. The puzzles for the most part are extremely fun and are quite challenging. You'll have to think about things before you do them, or you may end up facing your own demise. Of course, the Wii Remote comes into play with the puzzles, offering a variety of uses. Most of these work very well, but some don't respond quite as well as you'd want, or are maybe even too sensitive to the controls. For example, you may be trying to pour liquid into a cup, but when you try and dump it, the bottle doesn't tip down. It's those occasional annoyances that take away from the overall game experience. You'll be using Wiki for the puzzles you encounter. When you shake the Wii Remote, Wiki will turn into a bell. This is used to turn animals into useful items as well as clear the spirits away from the treasure chests.
The graphics are some of the most impressive on the Wii. Combine some crisp cell-shaded characters with imaginative environments to make a beautiful game. Many third party makers have had trouble with the graphics, but it seems Capcom has hit it right on.
It's disappointing that I couldn't really say the same thing about the sound work. Wiki's high pitched baby voice is bound to get on your nerves, as well as some of the sounds enemies make. The squeal of the snake isn't exactly "pleasing" or realistic for that matter. The sound work may be grating, but the music is great. The music can really capture the theme of the scene in most cases. When your being chased the music is frantic and when you're in a cavern with crystals and waterfalls, the music is calm and relaxed.
Expect Zack and Wiki to last you a good 8-10 hours. The isn't really much reason to play through it again, unless you want to earn more points by solving puzzles the first time around. It really isn't as fun as the first time around, because you already know how to solve the puzzles and it isn't nearly as satisfying.
Three other people can join into your adventure as well. They can serve as guides by pointing with their remote on where to go. They do not play as an actual character. but it does help to have another person by your side, and can be quite fun.
Overall, Zack and Wiki is an immensely fun and unique adventure game, in which just a few annoyances take away from it. Don't be discouraged from its childish appearance; Zack and Wiki is a great game that gamers of all ages should consider giving a spin.