Go Vacation[lower-alpha 2] is a 2011 party video game developed and released by Bandai Namco Games for the Wii and Nintendo Switch. It is the third game in the We Ski series and a spin-off to the prior two main titles. Up to four players can compete against each other in over 50 sport-based minigames that take place in four fictional island resorts. Minigames range from activities such as kayaking and horseback riding, to activities like table hockey and minigolf. Different resorts can be accessed using vehicles such as trolleys and bicycles. Players can customize the outfit of their avatar and decorate their house with furniture.
The game's development began in 2009 and lasted two and a half years. It was announced at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo as an entry in the We Ski series; the game was released later that year for the Wii. The game was ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2018 and included new features such as the ability to take photographs. Surveys were held in the United States, Europe, and Japan to determine which sports and activities should be included in the minigames. Although the resorts were not directly based on real-life locations, producer Kobayashi said Hawaii was a possible influence for the Marine Resort.
Go Vacation had a mixed reception; critics praised its multiplayer aspects and creativity but criticized its soundtrack, environments, controls, and the quality of the minigames. It was the third-best-selling game in Japan the week of its release, selling 47,209 copies.
Gameplay
A split screen view of four players having a water gun fight
Go Vacation is a party and sports video game.[1] Players explore four resorts located on the fictional Kawawii Island: Marine, City, Mountain, and Snow.[3] They start the game in the Marine Resort.[4][5] More than 50 activities, both competitive and co-operative, are available.[6] These include bungee jumping, ice fishing, scuba diving, miniature golf, tennis, off-road racing, and snowman building.[3] Some minigames require or allow for the use of different controllers and accessories, such as the MotionPlus controller, the Wii Zapper, the Balance Board, or the Wii Wheel.[6][7] Winning some minigames unlocks more challenging modes.[5] The island open world can be navigated at the player's leisure by walking or riding on vehicles, the type of which depends on the resort,[4] and each resort has certain places where players can fast travel to. In the Switch version, players are able to find and take photographs of animals that are scattered across the resorts, and find boxes with rewards in them.[1][8]
The Marine Resort, which contains coves and beaches, is themed around watersports, including beach volleyball, surfing, water gun battles, and Marine bike races.[9] The City Resort, which centers around extreme and leisure sports, is the second and smallest resort. It hosts games such as table hockey, pie-throwing, skating, and minigolf.[4][9][10] Players can use skateboards found throughout the resort to ride on skating rails.[4] The third resort, the Snow Resort, focuses on winter sports like ski jumping, snow tubing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and snowball fighting.[4][9][11] The final resort is the Mountain Resort, where players can partake in outdoor activities. It includes forests and locations for rafting, kayaking, exploring, off-road car racing, and horseback riding.[4][9][12] It also contains a lake and a shooting park.[13]
Go Vacation can be played using a Mii or one of 284 avatars divided into eight categories such as "Grandmother", "Grandfather", "Boy", and "Girl".[13] Treasure chests containing outfits for the players' avatars are scattered around the resorts.[14] Players can create a virtual dog and a non-player character (NPC) to accompany them as they explore the resorts which, with some exceptions,[lower-alpha 3] cannot participate in minigames.[13] Up to four players can play together through local multiplayer.[14][15] Occasionally, NPCs may ask players to embark upon a small quest, such as getting an item and taking back to them.[16]
After playing 20 minigames, players gains access to their own virtual villas,[17] which can be decorated with furniture or photographs taken during the game.[14] Furniture can be found in the game's world or unlocked using "silver keys" that are obtained after completing minigame goals.[13][14][18] Furniture is gained in sets, of which there are 90.[13] Players can alter the exterior of their villas using "gold keys", earned by completing challenges.[14][18]
Development
Go Vacation was announced at the 2011Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)[3] as the third entry in the We Ski series.[19]Bandai Namco Games began development of the game in 2009,[20] shortly after the release of We Ski & Snowboard because the developers felt they had not given players a "complete sense" of winter in the previous game.[21] When discussing ways to address this, the developers decided winter alone was not enough; they wanted to depict other seasons.[21] Producer Kenya Kobayashi wanted the game to focus on the experience of going on a resort holiday, rather than strictly focusing on the minigames themselves.[6] Part of the game's development was outsourced to other companies; the rest was done by Bandai Namco Games staff who had previously worked on the Ridge Racer series.[20] After realizing the word "vacation" is frequently associated with relaxation, Kenya Kobayashi named the game Go Vacation to clarify that it is a game in which you must be active.[22]
The resorts were not directly based on any real-life locations, although Kobayashi said the Marine Resort "might be inspired by things you find in Hawaii".[6] The developers conducted surveys in the United States, Europe, and Japan to determine what activities to include in the game.[6] The development team included 50 minigames in Go Vacation because most of the game's contemporaries included only 10 to 15 minigames.[20] Developing the controls for the game's vehicles felt like "second nature" to the development team due to their experience on the Ridge Racer series.[20]
Go Vacation was released for the Wii in 2011, the exact date of release vary depending on region. It released on 11 October in North America, 20 October in Japan, 4 November in Europe,[23] and 17 November in Australia.[24] It was later ported to the Switch. The port released on 27 July 2018 in all regions except for Japan, where it was released on 27 December.[25][26]
The soundtrack of Go Vacation consists of both original music,[27] as well as instrumental and vocal arrangements of music from past Namco games. Several composers, musicians, and vocal artists worked on the soundtrack for Go Vacation, including Taku Inoue, Norihiko Hibino, Aubrey Ashburn, and Jody Whitesides.[28][29] Two soundtrack albums released. The first, the officially licensed album Namco Music Saloon, was released on 21 December 2012 by Japanese record label Sweep Records, and includes live instrumentation and vocals.[28] The album consists of original arrangements of songs from other Bandai Namco Entertainment titles, including Ridge Racer, Dig Dug, Pac-Man, New Rally-X, and Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan.[28] The second, GO VACATION BGM Album,[27] was released by Namco Sounds digitally on iTunes on 23 March 2013.[30] This album contains original music composed by Taku Inoue for Go Vacation.[27]
Go Vacation received a mixed reception from critics; both versions of the game received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[31][32] Andy Robertson of Wired stated the game was one of his "go-to family gaming suggestions", calling it "a real treat".[19]Jim Sterling, writing for Destructoid, argued that "to call it bad would be unfair, but to call it anything better would give it more credit than it deserves".[33] The Wii version of Go Vacation was the third-best-selling game in Japan during its first week, selling 47,209 copies, behind both Macross F: The Wings of Goodbye Hybrid Pack and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact.[41]
The controls of the Wii version received a mixed reception but those of the Switch were praised. Of the Wii version, IGN's Audrey Drake said, "from Marine bikes to roller blades to horses, traversing the island proves engaging in its own right".[36] Sterling took issue with the need to plug and unplug the Nunchuk controllers on the Wii version when swapping between minigames.[33] Nintendo Power's Cody M. said that while exploring the game's open world can be a "joy", but that the motion controls were "awkward" and could cause players attempting to move forward to accidentally change their direction.[7] Mark Reece of Nintendo Life said the minigames were not fun to play due to "a poorly conceived or unintuitive control scheme".[38] Reviewing the Switch version, Daan Koopman of Nintendo World Report noted that the controls are one of the "biggest improvements over the original".[40] Alessandra Borgonovo of IGN Italia praised the controls for the roller skates, saying that they were fun to use.[5]
On the game's minigames, critics were mostly negative. In her review of the Wii version, Sterling called them "tepid and shallow".[33] Reviewing the Switch version, Koopman criticized the game for not properly informing the player that more activities and modes can be accessed in the individual minigames after the first playthrough of said minigame.[40]Nintendo Life's Ryan Craddock felt that they are "an undercooked version of things we've seen countless times before."[25]Jeuxvideo.com's Anagund praised the amount of minigames available, saying that the proverb of "quality over quantity" might have lost its meaning with Go Vacation.[16] Reviewing the Wii version, Chris Watters, a writer for GameSpot, was mostly positive about the minigames, saying that "most are decent", but that some had succumbed to an "awkward camera" or "unresponsive controls".[14]
According to Reece, the game's music is "irritating and forgettable in equal measure", and the Wii version's opening theme would "more than likely awaken a strong desire to gouge out your own eardrums".[38] In reviewing the game's soundtrack, Don Kotowski said the vocals in some of the music are "cheesy" and tend to "be a huge distraction that really hampers my enjoyment of the album". He praised the songs "Starry Ocean" and "Malasada Break" for their "nice island vibe" and said it was "quite impressive to see how Hibino has elaborated on the simple originals to produce fully-fledged arrangements".[28]
Watters criticized one aspect of villas; he said the game does not properly communicate to players how to gain silver and gold keys, which are used to customize villas.[14] Some reviewers, however, praised the customizable villas; Craddock, in his review of the Switch version, compared them to the house customization mechanics of the Animal Crossing series.[25]
According to Drake, the game's island is "where everyone but yourself is actually a robot", referring to a lack of interaction with NPCs.[36] Sterling criticized the NPCs for their design, calling them "faux anime characters" and "completely charmless".[33] Reece also took issue with the NPCs, writing, "even if you hop onto an ATV and plough into someone at full speed, they'll have very little to say for themselves when they get back on their feet".[38]
Related Research Articles
Mr. Driller is a puzzle video game franchise created by Yasuhito Nagaoka and Hideo Yoshizawa for Namco. The eponymous first game was released in 1999 for arcades and several home consoles, such as the PlayStation. Gameplay in the series consists of controlling Susumu Hori, the titular Mr. Driller, or one of his friends and destroying colorful formations of blocks to make it to the bottom of a well. In order to survive, players need to collect air capsules to replenish their depleting oxygen and avoid being crushed by falling blocks.
Klonoa is a platform video game series created by Namco in 1997. It stars Klonoa, an anthropomorphic creature who explores dream worlds. The series includes two main games: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (1997) for the PlayStation and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (2001) for the PlayStation 2. A remake of Door to Phantomile was released for the Wii in 2008, and remasters of both games were released in 2022. The series also includes a set of handheld games released between 1999 and 2002 for the WonderSwan and Game Boy Advance.
Super Smash Bros. is a crossover platform fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objective which differs from that of traditional fighters, in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.
Gaplus is a 1984 fixed shooter arcade game developed and released by Namco. It is the third game in the Galaxian series, serving as a direct sequel to Galaga (1981). In North America, a modification kit was later released to change the name to Galaga 3, possibly to reflect its position in the series. It was the only game other than Phozon to run on the Namco Phozon hardware. A contemporary home port for the Commodore 64 was released in 1988. A "demastered" version of the game was included in Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 as a bonus title.
Namco Museum Remix is a 2007 video game compilation developed and published for the Wii by Namco Bandai Games. The compilation includes nine Namco arcade games and five "remix" games made specifically for this compilation. A remake, Namco Museum Megamix, was released exclusively in North America on November 26, 2010; the game features nine other arcade games alongside the titles from the original, as well as an additional remix game based on Grobda.
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge is a 2008 video game for the Wii produced by Namco Bandai Games. Players use a mat similar to the Power Pad in conjunction with the Wii Remote in order to complete a variety of mini-games. The game is comparable to Wii Fit. As of January 30, 2009, the game has sold one million copies worldwide. A sequel, titled Active Life: Extreme Challenge, was released on August 11, 2009.
We Ski is a 2008 skiing video game for the Wii developed and published by Namco Bandai Games. It is the first third-party game released that makes use of the Wii Balance Board.
Wii Sports Resort is a 2009 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console and is the sequel to Wii Sports. It is the first first-party Wii game to support the Wii MotionPlus accessory and the first one overall to require it, which was bundled with the game. Wii Sports Resort was first announced at E3 2008 and was released in Japan on June 25, 2009, and in nearly all other regions the following month. While Wii Sports Resort was first released as a stand-alone title, it was later bundled with newer Wii consoles alongside Wii Sports.
We Ski & Snowboard, known as Family Ski: World Ski and Snowboard in Japan and Family Ski & Snowboard in Europe and Australia, is a video game for the Wii. It is a sequel to the 2008 title We Ski and utilizes the Wii Balance Board.
Mr. Driller W is a 2009 puzzle video game developed and published for the WiiWare service by Namco Bandai Games. The eighth entry in the Mr. Driller series, gameplay revolves around clearing each level by destroying, or "drilling", large formations of colorful blocks. Players have an oxygen meter that acts as a time limit, and constantly depletes; air is replenished by collecting air capsules, and is depleted further by destroying brown "X" blocks.
Muscle March, known in Japan as Muscle Kōshinkyoku, is an action video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Wii through the WiiWare service. It was released in Japan in 2009, and in North America and the PAL region in 2010. Players control one of seven different bodybuilders and try to catch a thief that has stolen their bodybuilding friends' tub of protein powder. Its gameplay is similar to Hole In The Wall, where players use the Wiimote and Nunchuck to perform specific bodybuilder poses to pass through corresponding holes in walls left by the thief.
Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked is a cooking simulation-styled minigame compilation developed by American studio Red Fly Studio and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was released exclusively in North America on November 3, 2009, and is the first video game to use the Food Network license.
Pac-Man Party is a party game by Namco Bandai Games for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS. It is similar to the Mario Party series and Monopoly games for the Wii. In the game's story mode, players must retrieve a stolen cookie recipe from Pac-Man's enemies Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde and return it to its rightful owner, Mr. Cookie. The game was released to coincide with Pac-Man's 30th anniversary. The game notably features redesigns of the main characters which would carry over to following Pac-Man titles in the mid-2010s, culminating with Ghostly Adventures.
Fishing Resort, known in Japan and Korea as Family Fishing (ファミリーフィッシング), is a fishing video game developed by Prope for the Wii home console. It features 8 different areas for the player to fish and do several "activities". Stores located in areas allow people to purchase items for fishing needs. Players can also take a cruiser and explore the ocean surrounding the "island" where the game takes place.
Wii Sports Club is a sports simulation video game, developed by Nintendo and Bandai Namco Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii U throughout 2013 and 2014. It is the third entry in the Wii Sports series, a part of the larger Wii series. As an enhanced remake of the 2006 Wii launch title Wii Sports, it includes five minigames that replicate Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing, and are controlled with motion controls that replicate the sports. New to the game is additional control schemes using the Wii U GamePad, online multiplayer, and Wii Motion Plus support. Players are organized into clubs that represent different regions, and scores and stats are tracked on Nintendo's social network Miiverse. Players could also communicate with each other during and after online matches using Miiverse. Each sport can be purchased individually or rented for a certain amount of time via a pass.
Bandai Namco Studios Inc. is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo. Its offices in Malaysia and Singapore, Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, are based out of Selangor, Malaysia and Infinite Studios, Singapore respectively. Bandai Namco Studios is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which itself is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. The company works under its parent company as a keiretsu; Bandai Namco Studios creates video games for home consoles, handheld systems, mobile devices and arcade hardware, while Bandai Namco Entertainment handles the managing, marketing and publishing of these products.
Pokkén Tournament is a fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game combines gameplay elements from Bandai Namco's Tekken series and other fighting games, such as 3D and 2D movement, with characters from the Pokémon franchise. It was released for Japanese arcades in July 2015, and worldwide for the Wii U in March 2016. An enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch, Pokkén Tournament DX, was released in September 2017. The arcade version was published by Bandai Namco, the Japanese console versions were published by The Pokémon Company, and the console versions outside of Japan were published by Nintendo.
Lost Reavers was a free-to-play multiplayer online game developed and published by Bandai Namco for the Wii U. The game was distributed via Nintendo eShop, and took advantage of the Nintendo Network. A public beta test was being held in Japan from 3 September until 13 September, followed by the title's commercial release on 2 December 2015. The game also released internationally on 28 April 2016. As of 30 May 2019, the game’s servers have been shut down.
Klonoa is a side-scrolling platform video game for the Wii developed by Paon and published by Namco Bandai Games. It is a remake of the 1997 PlayStation game Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, the first game in the Klonoa series, updating the game with fully 3D graphics, additional content, and gameplay changes. It was released in Japan in December 2008 and in North America and Europe in May 2009.
↑ Released under the Namco brand name on the Wii. Nintendo Switch version published by Nintendo outside Japan.[1] In Japan, it was published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.[2]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
