Zack, and his enchanted monkey sidekick, Wiki, are the newest members of the pirate gang, The Sea Rabbits. After an accident on their flight to the Sea Rabbits' hideout, Zack and Wiki encounter the golden, talking skull of the infamous pirate captain, Barbaros, and he promises to lead the two to the famous "Treasure Island" if they restore his cursed body that are scattered around the world.

Story
First off, the story doesn't have a lot of focus in the game, it's pretty much the gameplay that takes the whole spotlight, the story is represented when you defeat a boss-esque stage and sometimes in certain levels, but as far as the story goes, it was a pretty good tale ! it's cartoonish but at the same time it is pretty charming and very traditional for what it is.

Gameplay
Zack & Wiki plays like a point-and-click adventure game which is reminiscent to the old point and click adventure games on the PC, but the difference is, that this game is really easy if you're a veteran on the point and click adventure games. First off, you will start on a submenu where it's the Sea Rabbits' hideout, where you can speak to others and can help or show you a lot of things, for example when you click on the big rabbit you will go to the level select screen, and when you click on the bookshelf it will show you how many items you've collected, you click on a rabbit that is on the barrel and it will show you the game's progress, all of that and more.

Each level has the same main objective: reach the treasure chest, but you are required to overcome obstacles by solving puzzles in order to get said treasure chest. You control zack by not using the control pad, but by using the cursor, you point the cursor on where you want zack to move and then pressing the A button will make zack go to where you were pointing (hence it's genre "point-and-click" adventure) but the good part is that you can hold the A button and zack will keep moving wherever you move the cursor to ! solving the obstacles will require you to investigate objects and contraptions, some of them will require you to do a gesture move with the wii remote in order to activate it, but some obstacles will require you to use an item, and in order to get said item you need to transform any creatures and enemies in the level by shaking the wii remote horizontally, in which you will turn Wiki into a bell and zack will shake it in order to ring it, doing so will transform any nearby enemies into usable tools for solving each level's numerous puzzles. Each creature has it's own way of activating, when you are cheking a contraption, you will go into a first-person perspective where you will use the item and then you are prompted to mimic the operation of the item with the wii remote, and the gesture you will be doing is just like what you are doing in the game, for example when you want to activate a lever, you need to hold the wii remote like a lever and then move it just like a lever.

But that's not all, each time you finish a level, your actions will be graded on how good you were, and you will earn a certain amount of "HirameQ" points based depending on the cleverness of the action, how many attempts it takes to perform the action correctly, and its difficulty level, the HirameQ points will improve zack's reputation as a pirate, which means the higher the HirameQ points are, the more hidden treasures and items are found throughout the game. You can also find money in the levels in which you spend it on a shop for two very special items, which are the platinum tickets, where they allow you to continue the level if you failed during a mission, since sadly, if you fail on a task and you don't have a platinum ticket, you will start over all over again no matter how good you were doing, and another item are the oracle dolls, where they can be traded for a hint at anytime during a level.

The game is fun, and the game is somewhat easy at the beggining, but in the later levels the game gets more difficult since it has much more complicated contraptions and obstacles and not to mention it gets very clever with the puzzles too ! some people might be turned off with the fact that you can't move zack with the control pad and that you need to do a lot of gestures in order to progress the game.

Graphics
The game has cel-shaded graphics and has this cartoonish and colorful look behind it, and to be honest, it looks good, and this is coming from a person who is not that big on cel-shaded graphics, the character models look good and even though everything looks simplistic, to the point that these graphics look a little outdated, the game does a great job on how to portray the game as it should be.

Music and sound
The soundtrack is alright, it consists of mostly orchestra songs and some solo tunes, some songs are good but are not that memorable and some of them are decent.

The sounds are very cheerful and have it's own style, they're simple and they sound good but a few of them sound kind of out of place, and as for the voice acting, there are only grumbles and such, while the voice clips sound kind of generic in some way, they are pretty good ! but sadly, the game is english only, so you're going to have to learn that languaje in order to understand the game...

Presentation
One of the things that I want to specify about this game (Also known as "Treasure Island Z: Barbaros' Secret Treasure" in Japan) is that, for some reason, includes a multiplayer feature up to 4 players !... but sadly, instead of having a co-op or competitive gameplay on the levels whit your buddies, the only thing it does is that the other players can trace and draw in order to aid you by pointing out elements with their cursors... this... is the most ridiculous feature I have ever seen included in a multiplayer game on the wii, whatever happened to just physically helping your friend on what to do next by just pointing the finger at the T.V. ?! what happened to that ?!

But anyway, the game can change it's atmosphere in a lot of settings, be it inside a volcano, in a haunted house, in the jungle and much more, but despite all that, the game doesn't change it's cartoonish and cheery tone, which is a good thing because this game has this appeal that it's appropiate for families, or even for those who just want a complex but cheery game.

And as for the replayability, there is a lot do in this game ! there are hidden treasures to collect, which are the pixel sprites from other capcom games ! and then there are some secret treasures that only Maddy, which is in the Sea Rabbits' hideout submenu, can only seek out for you, and then there's completing the levels with a maximum amount of HirameQ points, all of that and more ! but there is once certain minigame that you will hate, it involves a rhythm game that it makes you shake the wii remote in order to make a beat, but the shaking is very unresponsive and frustrating ! but thankfully you don't need to play them in order to progress the game, but it might stop you in completing the whole game in 100%.

Overall
Even though there are a few flaws that really should've been corrected, his game is pretty good and it also feels like a good return of the old point-and-click adventure games from the PC ! but it also adds something new to the gameplay as well ! but sadly, this game had poor sales when it was released, so your game store migth not have this game, but if they do, then do yourself a favor and give it a go if you like great and clever point-and-click adventure games ! but if you don't like the idea of doing a lot of gestures or that the game might sound a little difficult for you or maybe you're not a big fan of the genre, then rent this game if you can, but as for me, this game gets...


an 8/10

8- Great This is a great game that might have a few flaws or could have been better, but is still a game we highly recommend!