Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Encyclopedia
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, known as in Japan, is an adventure
/puzzle video game published and developed by Capcom
for the Wii
video game console
. It was first released in North America on October 23, 2007, and was later released in Japan, PAL region
s, and as one of eight Wii launch games in South Korea. The game stars the aspiring pirate
Zack and his monkey
friend Wiki. Shortly after joining a pirate gang called "The Sea Rabbits", the pair discovers a talking skull belonging to the pirate captain Barbaros. In exchange for helping find all the pieces of the captain's cursed body, Barbaros promises to lead Zack and Wiki to the coveted "Treasure Island" and his legendary pirate ship.
Inspired by traditional graphic adventure game
s, Zack & Wiki features a unique way of puzzle-solving by coupling a point-and-click
interface with gesture mechanics
using the Wii Remote
. In each level, the player is tasked with reaching a treasure chest
by guiding Zack with an onscreen cursor and then interacting with objects to solve puzzles leading to the treasure. The Remote is used for mimicking actions such as pulling levers, turning keys, and pouring liquids. Shaking the Remote also rings Zack's companion Wiki like a bell
, which transforms any nearby enemies into usable tools for solving each level's numerous puzzles. Zack & Wiki enjoyed a very positive reception from major news and gaming publications. However, the game suffered much less enthusiastic sales worldwide.
. In each stage, the player is required to overcome obstacles by solving puzzles and advance towards a treasure chest
. The player controls the actions of hero Zack through the Wii Remote
by pointing to objects on the screen, identified by an onscreen cursor, and having Zack move about the level and investigate objects and contraptions. Creatures and enemies in the level can be transformed into practical items by holding the Wii Remote vertically and shaking it left to right, causing Zack to shake his ally Wiki like a bell. When the player has Zack interact with a usable item, the game shifts to a first-person view and the player is prompted to mimic the operation of the item with the Wii Remote. For example, in one of the game's earlier puzzles, the player must create a bridge out of a tree. This is done by ringing Wiki to change an enemy centipede
into a saw, then using the tool to cut down the tree by holding the Wii Remote horizontally and moving it back and forth in a sawing motion. The game contains over 80 different gestures, which range from pulling levers to playing a flute.
Successful actions award the player a set amount of "HirameQ" points based on the cleverness of the action, how many attempts it takes to perform the action correctly, and its difficulty level
. After reaching a treasure chest, the player must exorcise
the evil spirits covering it by ringing Wiki. The game then tallies up the total number of HirameQs in a level and gives the player a grade based on performance. Zack's reputuation as a pirate will improve with a higher HirameQ total and as more treasures and items are found throughout the game. While not exploring levels, the player has the opportunity to return to Zack and Wiki's pirate hideout to access a treasure library, send fellow pirate Maddy out to search for secret treasure, and purchase "Oracle Dolls" and "Platinum Tickets" using money found in each stage. Platinum Tickets allow the player to continue
if they die during a mission. Oracle Dolls can be traded for a hint at anytime during a stage.
in history. He, and his enchanted monkey
sidekick, Wiki, are the newest members of the pirate gang, "The Sea Rabbits". On their flight to the Sea Rabbits' hideout, Zack and Wiki, along with Johnny, the Sea Rabbits' pilot, are attacked by a rival gang of pirates called "The Rose Rock Pirates", led by Captain Rose, a young, spoiled girl who believes that the world's treasure
is hers for the taking. She shoots down Zack and Wiki's ship with the help of her goons, and they crashland on a tropical island where they discover a treasure chest containing the golden, talking skull of the infamous pirate captain
, Barbaros. When they first meet, Barbaros seems to recognize Wiki, referring to him as "the one who turned him into gold". Wiki, however, doesn't seem to remember the captain. He promises to lead the two to the famous "Treasure Island" and give them his legendary pirate ship if they will help restore his cursed body by collecting its various pieces that are scattered around the world.
Zack and Wiki search through several locations, each one containing either a missing piece of Barbaros' body, or a treasure map
leading to other areas. They start in the jungle
, where they soon encounter a group of hostile beings called "Growlin' Goblins", a group of natives that are cannibals, who feed on nothing but stew
and are, strangely enough, worshippers of fire. After a few encounters with these creatures (and a close encounter with a monsterously-sized fish
named Gulppy), Zack and Wiki meet the "King
of the Jungle", an enormous Growlin' Goblin that the smaller Goblins worship almost like a god
, who serves as the boss of the first area. They find out he, unlike his people, isn't very smart and is afraid of fire, so they trick him into running away. Eventually, the King meets his demise after a long fall down a pit, which Zack survives with help from an umbrella.
Their second stop is a frozen ruin, where they find Captain Rose and her Goons trying to excavate some of Barbaros. However, the local creatures (along with a mechanical, time-controlled street
-sweeper
and the fact that the Goons themselves aren't very clever) have led to their defeat or being trapped in a dangerous situation. After several encounters, they finally run into Captain Rose, who captures Wiki to unlock the chest (having deduced that Wiki is the key to the treasure she's after). However, before she can even use him, she inadvertantely awakens the boss that guards the treasure: a giant head of a lion that breathes freezing breath known as Chillion. Using a complex light refraction system (of which Captain Rose becomes an unknowing part of when she becomes frozen by Chillion's breath), Zack uses its power to melt Chillion and free Wiki. The melting, however, also frees Captain Rose, who is extremely agitated for being used as a part of a monster-slaying mechanism. Zack and Wiki, however, escape with the treasure.
The third point in their journey is a massive, dormant volcano
. The Rose Rock pirates (once again) try to take the treasure, but are (once again) hindered by local dangers (such as giant spiders and mechanical walkers that patrol the volcano). Through several struggles, the duo enter the core of the volcano and meet a cute baby dragon
. They try to make friends with him, but when Zack accidentally scares him with a funny face he made, he incurs the wrath of the baby dragon's father: a full-grown wyrm
(named Swellosaurus) that is not friendly. After dodging several of the wyrm's fireballs (and the use of several Goons to solve the area's puzzles), Zack uses a giant hammer to break a giant chandelier
, full of water
. Seemingly, the wyrm is killed when it is doused with water, but a cry from her baby reveals the creature was merely stunned. The map to the last of Barbaros having been acquired, Johnny (in his new plane) takes the guys to the next area so that the treasure hunt can be finished.
Unfortunately, Captain Rose (having become tired of the Sea Rabbits getting the treasure first) promptly attacks them and has her Goons steal the map. With no other choice, Zack and Wiki enact "Operation: Take Back!". Sneaking onboard Captain Rose's ship, they succeed in defeating many of the Goons and scare Captain Rose with a frog
that somehow got into the ventilation system.
Finding the last piece of Barbaros in a chest in the captain's own castle, Zack rings Wiki in order to return Barbaros to his former self. This restores Barbaros' human
ity, but also reveals his true intentions, that he never planned to give Zack anything and wishes Treasure Island all for himself. It is also revealed that Wiki was the one who originally cursed Barbaros, of which Wiki had lost memory. Barbaros then casts the duo into a pit and departs for Treasure Island.
Zack and Wiki give chase and join forces with the Rose Rock Pirates to trail Barbaros to Treasure Island, which seemingly floats in a gap at the center of the earth. There, the heroes outsmart Barbaros and escape Treasure Island with his ship. During the getaway, Barbaros attempts one final assault using a large mechanized creature called Gigaros. Zack is able to repel this attack in the end, but at the cost of losing Wiki to the collapsing Treasure Island. The epilogue details life soon afterwards, with a despondent Zack in the Sea Rabbits' hideout. He hears a familiar ring and rushes out to find a chest washed onto the shore. The game ends as Zack opens the chest.
and Resident Evil Outbreak
; Takeshita had previously worked on titles in the Breath of Fire series and Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins
. Since joining Capcom, Sasaki had wanted to design a point-and-click adventure game, having been inspired by such titles as Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
and Dezeniland. The idea of creating such a game came about before the Wii console's announcement. Development began in autumn or winter of 2005 with an early version of the game created within a six month period using a trial and error approach. At the production's peak, a total of around 55 people were working on Zack & Wiki, and it had decreased to 40 people near its completion. Five individuals were primarily responsible for creating the game's puzzles; programmers and other staff often submitted their own ideas and suggestions for the puzzles.
According to Takeshita, the Wii Remote
lent itself well to this kind of gameplay: "We wanted players to be able to enjoy the puzzle solving aspects of the game without getting bogged down with complicated controls." One of the team's goals was to successfully combine cognitive puzzle solving with the physical gestures using the Wii Remote. They had technical difficulty fine-tuning this gesture system to be used by anybody, as all players gesture differently. Although Zack & Wiki was initially designed for players in their early teens, Takeshita was confident that the game could be enjoyed by players of all ages. The game's inclusion of both logically and instinctively-solved puzzles, as well its colorful cel-shaded
presentation and mostly traditional storyline and characters, were also designed to appeal to wide range of audiences. The design team decided in the early stages of the game's development that if the player dies, he or she must start that specific puzzle over from the beginning. Because many people complained about this aspect in the game's testing phase in America, they added the ability of the player to buy his or her way back to life. From the project's start, Zack & Wiki was designed as a single-player video game. About midway though development, the design team decided to include the "guide cursor system", in which additional people may use their own Wii Remotes to aid the player by drawing and pointing out elements with cursors. Takeshita emphasized that this system would create a kind of "party-style atmosphere" for those wanting to enjoy the game with friends. Although Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
support was announced for the game when it was first revealed, this feature was later dropped.
The pirate theme
of Zack & Wiki was decided in its conceptual stage. The game was first announced by Capcom under the working title "Project Treasure Island Z" in March 2007 and was officially unveiled at Capcom's San Francisco Gamer's Day that April. The title was changed in the English localization shortly thereafter due to international copyright conflicts relating to the similarly themed novel Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
. The developer went through nearly 200 names before settling on the final one, which Takeshita explained was descriptive of the main characters and plot and, in order to appeal to children, a name one may associate with a kids cartoon series
.
, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and the Tokyo Game Show
. In a promotional video for the game first shown at E3, Zack & Wiki featured background sounds after accomplishing certain tasks. One such sound used in the video was the Islam
ic prayer "Allāhu Akbar
" ("God is great"), which was repeatedly used as players worked on a puzzle while tribal islanders prayed around a totem
. After receiving complaints and being contacted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations
, Capcom removed the phrase from the game.
Zack & Wiki was advertised
differently in each region of release. In Japan, the game was promoted by television personality Kusano Hitoshi. A related manga
titled began publication in the premiere issue of Kerokero Ace
magazine on October 21, 2007. According to Christian Svensson, the company's Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development, Capcom's outreach was largely "family-targeted" rather than for core-gamers. Additionally, despite prominent television advertising
in the Japan, the developer wanted to rely on "word of mouth
" to market the game in the United States, as it had done with the Ace Attorney series. Capcom later sent out an online reviewer's guide for the press and made a Flash demo available on game's official website. To promote the game in South Korea, Capcom included a mousepad
and a tiny treasure chest containing a candy necklace with each copy preordered. One hundred of these preorders were to have a real pearl
necklace in place of the candy one.
IGN's GamerMetrics had predicted that Zack & Wiki, along with Super Mario Galaxy
and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, would see a sales boost from the year-end delay of the highly anticipated Wii fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl
. However, Zack & Wiki sold only 300,000 copies worldwide by the end of Capcom's fiscal year 2008. The game sold less than 35,000 units in the United States in November 2007 and continued to grow "steadily" in the following months, still yielding much lower sales numbers than other third-party Wii titles from Capcom. After several price drops, Zack & Wiki managed to sell 126,000 units in the region within 26 months of release. Capcom's Senior Director of Communications Chris Kramer described these numbers as "abysmal". The game reached number 29 in the Japanese sales charts during its release week, selling 26,658 units there by the end of 2007. Zack & Wiki reached number 17 in the UK in the all format games charts during its first few days on sale in the country. Finally, the game sold about 8,000 units in South Korea in its first month during the Wii's launch there. Kramer reasoned that the game sold poorly due to the then-current Wii market being "tough to crack" and "ever-shifting" for the third-party publishers lacking knowledge regarding Wii software consumers. Capcom Product Manager Colin Ferris partially blamed the art design for the main character Zack on the game's sales. "Well, you know, Zack & Wiki... Another one in a long line of very highly-rated Capcom games that unfortunately did not sell very well," Ferris said. "We can take a part of the blame on ourselves by having it star a shirtless boy pirate. That is actually a personal favorite of a lot of people in Capcom, so don’t be surprised if you see it again but we have nothing in the works at the moment."
.
Zack & Wiki received a number of honors, awards, and nominations from the gaming community and by various news and video game publications alike. It received a Gold Award from Official Nintendo Magazine and an "Editor's Choice" label from both IGN
and GameSpy
. The game won "Best Wii Controls" for 2007 by NGamer
magazine and "Adventure Game of the Year" from GameSpot
. The game was included on IGN's "20 Wii Games You Should Already Own" and Gaming Target
's "52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2007". Zack & Wiki was named one of the best games for kids in 2007 by USA Today
, one of the best family games of the year by MSNBC
, the ninth best video game of the year by Fox News
, and the twenty-seventh best game of the year by The Daily Telegraph
. The game's control tutorial, in which the player falls out of a plane and must make a parachute out of an umbrella, was called one of the "Greatest Gaming Moments of 2007" by MTV
.
Leading up to an official announcement on June 18, 2007, Matt Casamassina
, the editor-in-chief of IGN
's Nintendo Channel, and Mark Bozon had been praising the game for its originality and unique gameplay. In an announcement for the "Buy Zack & Wiki Campaign", Casamassina officially stated that the two would make it their obligation to make sure that as many people as possible will buy the game upon its release.
Capcom reported in June 2008 that it would not be announcing a Zack & Wiki sequel anytime soon.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
/puzzle video game published and developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It was first released in North America on October 23, 2007, and was later released in Japan, PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
s, and as one of eight Wii launch games in South Korea. The game stars the aspiring pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
Zack and his monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
friend Wiki. Shortly after joining a pirate gang called "The Sea Rabbits", the pair discovers a talking skull belonging to the pirate captain Barbaros. In exchange for helping find all the pieces of the captain's cursed body, Barbaros promises to lead Zack and Wiki to the coveted "Treasure Island" and his legendary pirate ship.
Inspired by traditional graphic adventure game
Graphic adventure game
A graphic adventure game is a form of adventure game. They are distinct from text adventures. Whereas a player must actively observe using commands such as "look" in a text-based adventure, graphic adventures revolutionized gameplay by making use of natural human perception...
s, Zack & Wiki features a unique way of puzzle-solving by coupling a point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface with gesture mechanics
Gesture recognition
Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or state but commonly originate from the face or hand. Current focuses in the field include emotion...
using the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
. In each level, the player is tasked with reaching a treasure chest
Treasure Chest
Treasure Chest was a Catholic-oriented comic book series created by Dayton, Ohio publisher George A...
by guiding Zack with an onscreen cursor and then interacting with objects to solve puzzles leading to the treasure. The Remote is used for mimicking actions such as pulling levers, turning keys, and pouring liquids. Shaking the Remote also rings Zack's companion Wiki like a bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
, which transforms any nearby enemies into usable tools for solving each level's numerous puzzles. Zack & Wiki enjoyed a very positive reception from major news and gaming publications. However, the game suffered much less enthusiastic sales worldwide.
Gameplay
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is presented as a third-person perspective adventure gameAdventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
. In each stage, the player is required to overcome obstacles by solving puzzles and advance towards a treasure chest
Treasure Chest
Treasure Chest was a Catholic-oriented comic book series created by Dayton, Ohio publisher George A...
. The player controls the actions of hero Zack through the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
by pointing to objects on the screen, identified by an onscreen cursor, and having Zack move about the level and investigate objects and contraptions. Creatures and enemies in the level can be transformed into practical items by holding the Wii Remote vertically and shaking it left to right, causing Zack to shake his ally Wiki like a bell. When the player has Zack interact with a usable item, the game shifts to a first-person view and the player is prompted to mimic the operation of the item with the Wii Remote. For example, in one of the game's earlier puzzles, the player must create a bridge out of a tree. This is done by ringing Wiki to change an enemy centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
into a saw, then using the tool to cut down the tree by holding the Wii Remote horizontally and moving it back and forth in a sawing motion. The game contains over 80 different gestures, which range from pulling levers to playing a flute.
Successful actions award the player a set amount of "HirameQ" points based on the cleverness of the action, how many attempts it takes to perform the action correctly, and its difficulty level
Difficulty level
In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game. Arcade games as well as many early console...
. After reaching a treasure chest, the player must exorcise
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
the evil spirits covering it by ringing Wiki. The game then tallies up the total number of HirameQs in a level and gives the player a grade based on performance. Zack's reputuation as a pirate will improve with a higher HirameQ total and as more treasures and items are found throughout the game. While not exploring levels, the player has the opportunity to return to Zack and Wiki's pirate hideout to access a treasure library, send fellow pirate Maddy out to search for secret treasure, and purchase "Oracle Dolls" and "Platinum Tickets" using money found in each stage. Platinum Tickets allow the player to continue
Continue (video gaming)
Continue is a common term in video games for the option to continue the game after all of the player's lives have been lost, rather than ending the game and restarting from the very beginning.-Arcade games:...
if they die during a mission. Oracle Dolls can be traded for a hint at anytime during a stage.
Plot
"Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure" details the adventures of the titular protagonist, Zack, whose dream is to be the greatest piratePiracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
in history. He, and his enchanted monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
sidekick, Wiki, are the newest members of the pirate gang, "The Sea Rabbits". On their flight to the Sea Rabbits' hideout, Zack and Wiki, along with Johnny, the Sea Rabbits' pilot, are attacked by a rival gang of pirates called "The Rose Rock Pirates", led by Captain Rose, a young, spoiled girl who believes that the world's treasure
Treasure
Treasure is a concentration of riches, often one which is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered...
is hers for the taking. She shoots down Zack and Wiki's ship with the help of her goons, and they crashland on a tropical island where they discover a treasure chest containing the golden, talking skull of the infamous pirate captain
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
, Barbaros. When they first meet, Barbaros seems to recognize Wiki, referring to him as "the one who turned him into gold". Wiki, however, doesn't seem to remember the captain. He promises to lead the two to the famous "Treasure Island" and give them his legendary pirate ship if they will help restore his cursed body by collecting its various pieces that are scattered around the world.
Zack and Wiki search through several locations, each one containing either a missing piece of Barbaros' body, or a treasure map
Treasure map
A treasure map is a map that marks the location of buried treasure, a lost mine, a valuable secret or a hidden locale. More common in fiction than in reality, "pirate treasure maps" are often depicted in works of fiction as hand drawn and containing arcane clues for the characters to follow...
leading to other areas. They start in the jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
, where they soon encounter a group of hostile beings called "Growlin' Goblins", a group of natives that are cannibals, who feed on nothing but stew
Stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...
and are, strangely enough, worshippers of fire. After a few encounters with these creatures (and a close encounter with a monsterously-sized fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
named Gulppy), Zack and Wiki meet the "King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
of the Jungle", an enormous Growlin' Goblin that the smaller Goblins worship almost like a god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, who serves as the boss of the first area. They find out he, unlike his people, isn't very smart and is afraid of fire, so they trick him into running away. Eventually, the King meets his demise after a long fall down a pit, which Zack survives with help from an umbrella.
Their second stop is a frozen ruin, where they find Captain Rose and her Goons trying to excavate some of Barbaros. However, the local creatures (along with a mechanical, time-controlled street
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
-sweeper
Sweeper
Sweepers are small, tropical marine perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains approximately 26 species in two genera. One species is the target of subsistence fisheries in Japan, where the fish is much enjoyed for...
and the fact that the Goons themselves aren't very clever) have led to their defeat or being trapped in a dangerous situation. After several encounters, they finally run into Captain Rose, who captures Wiki to unlock the chest (having deduced that Wiki is the key to the treasure she's after). However, before she can even use him, she inadvertantely awakens the boss that guards the treasure: a giant head of a lion that breathes freezing breath known as Chillion. Using a complex light refraction system (of which Captain Rose becomes an unknowing part of when she becomes frozen by Chillion's breath), Zack uses its power to melt Chillion and free Wiki. The melting, however, also frees Captain Rose, who is extremely agitated for being used as a part of a monster-slaying mechanism. Zack and Wiki, however, escape with the treasure.
The third point in their journey is a massive, dormant volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
. The Rose Rock pirates (once again) try to take the treasure, but are (once again) hindered by local dangers (such as giant spiders and mechanical walkers that patrol the volcano). Through several struggles, the duo enter the core of the volcano and meet a cute baby dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
. They try to make friends with him, but when Zack accidentally scares him with a funny face he made, he incurs the wrath of the baby dragon's father: a full-grown wyrm
Chinese dragon
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
(named Swellosaurus) that is not friendly. After dodging several of the wyrm's fireballs (and the use of several Goons to solve the area's puzzles), Zack uses a giant hammer to break a giant chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
, full of water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. Seemingly, the wyrm is killed when it is doused with water, but a cry from her baby reveals the creature was merely stunned. The map to the last of Barbaros having been acquired, Johnny (in his new plane) takes the guys to the next area so that the treasure hunt can be finished.
Unfortunately, Captain Rose (having become tired of the Sea Rabbits getting the treasure first) promptly attacks them and has her Goons steal the map. With no other choice, Zack and Wiki enact "Operation: Take Back!". Sneaking onboard Captain Rose's ship, they succeed in defeating many of the Goons and scare Captain Rose with a frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
that somehow got into the ventilation system.
Finding the last piece of Barbaros in a chest in the captain's own castle, Zack rings Wiki in order to return Barbaros to his former self. This restores Barbaros' human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
ity, but also reveals his true intentions, that he never planned to give Zack anything and wishes Treasure Island all for himself. It is also revealed that Wiki was the one who originally cursed Barbaros, of which Wiki had lost memory. Barbaros then casts the duo into a pit and departs for Treasure Island.
Zack and Wiki give chase and join forces with the Rose Rock Pirates to trail Barbaros to Treasure Island, which seemingly floats in a gap at the center of the earth. There, the heroes outsmart Barbaros and escape Treasure Island with his ship. During the getaway, Barbaros attempts one final assault using a large mechanized creature called Gigaros. Zack is able to repel this attack in the end, but at the cost of losing Wiki to the collapsing Treasure Island. The epilogue details life soon afterwards, with a despondent Zack in the Sea Rabbits' hideout. He hears a familiar ring and rushes out to find a chest washed onto the shore. The game ends as Zack opens the chest.
Development
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure was directed by Eichiro Sasaki and produced by Hironobu Takeshita. Sasaki had previouly worked on other Capcom titles such as Power StonePower Stone
Power Stone is a fully 3D arena fighting game series made by Capcom. Power Stone was initially released on the Sega NAOMI hardware and later ported to the Dreamcast...
and Resident Evil Outbreak
Resident Evil Outbreak
Resident Evil Outbreak, known as in Japan, is a single player game with online playability for the PlayStation 2 initially released in 2003. It was developed by Capcom Production Studio 1. This game was the first in the Resident Evil series to feature cooperative gameplay and online multiplayer...
; Takeshita had previously worked on titles in the Breath of Fire series and Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins
is a video game in Capcom's Ghosts'n Goblins series released for the PlayStation Portable on August 3, 2006 in Japan. Ultimate Ghosts'n Goblins is the first game in the series to employ 3D graphics, while maintaining much of the 2D gameplay mechanics of the earlier games...
. Since joining Capcom, Sasaki had wanted to design a point-and-click adventure game, having been inspired by such titles as Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
is a video game by Hudson Soft originally released in 1984 for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001, FM-7 and MSX Japanese home computers.It was ported on May 27, 1988 to the Famicom, and February 8, 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America...
and Dezeniland. The idea of creating such a game came about before the Wii console's announcement. Development began in autumn or winter of 2005 with an early version of the game created within a six month period using a trial and error approach. At the production's peak, a total of around 55 people were working on Zack & Wiki, and it had decreased to 40 people near its completion. Five individuals were primarily responsible for creating the game's puzzles; programmers and other staff often submitted their own ideas and suggestions for the puzzles.
According to Takeshita, the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
lent itself well to this kind of gameplay: "We wanted players to be able to enjoy the puzzle solving aspects of the game without getting bogged down with complicated controls." One of the team's goals was to successfully combine cognitive puzzle solving with the physical gestures using the Wii Remote. They had technical difficulty fine-tuning this gesture system to be used by anybody, as all players gesture differently. Although Zack & Wiki was initially designed for players in their early teens, Takeshita was confident that the game could be enjoyed by players of all ages. The game's inclusion of both logically and instinctively-solved puzzles, as well its colorful cel-shaded
Cel-shaded animation
Cel-shaded animation is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Cel-shading is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a somewhat recent addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in video games...
presentation and mostly traditional storyline and characters, were also designed to appeal to wide range of audiences. The design team decided in the early stages of the game's development that if the player dies, he or she must start that specific puzzle over from the beginning. Because many people complained about this aspect in the game's testing phase in America, they added the ability of the player to buy his or her way back to life. From the project's start, Zack & Wiki was designed as a single-player video game. About midway though development, the design team decided to include the "guide cursor system", in which additional people may use their own Wii Remotes to aid the player by drawing and pointing out elements with cursors. Takeshita emphasized that this system would create a kind of "party-style atmosphere" for those wanting to enjoy the game with friends. Although Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
The is an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo to provide free online play in compatible Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Wii games. The service includes the company's Wii Shop Channel, DSi Shop, and Nintendo eShop game download services...
support was announced for the game when it was first revealed, this feature was later dropped.
The pirate theme
Pirates in popular culture
In American and British popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its tradition mostly to depictions of Captain Hook and his crew in theatrical and film versions of Peter Pan, Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the film Treasure Island, and various adaptations of Sinbad the...
of Zack & Wiki was decided in its conceptual stage. The game was first announced by Capcom under the working title "Project Treasure Island Z" in March 2007 and was officially unveiled at Capcom's San Francisco Gamer's Day that April. The title was changed in the English localization shortly thereafter due to international copyright conflicts relating to the similarly themed novel Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
. The developer went through nearly 200 names before settling on the final one, which Takeshita explained was descriptive of the main characters and plot and, in order to appeal to children, a name one may associate with a kids cartoon series
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
.
Release
Leading up to its October release date, the newly titled game was featured at several gaming conventions and tradeshows including Japan's annual World Hobby Fair, San Diego Comic-Con International, the Leipzig Games ConventionGames Convention
The Games Convention, sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention and abbreviated as GC, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment...
, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
. In a promotional video for the game first shown at E3, Zack & Wiki featured background sounds after accomplishing certain tasks. One such sound used in the video was the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic prayer "Allāhu Akbar
Takbir
The Takbīr or Tekbir is the Arabic term for the phrase ' . It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression...
" ("God is great"), which was repeatedly used as players worked on a puzzle while tribal islanders prayed around a totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
. After receiving complaints and being contacted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights...
, Capcom removed the phrase from the game.
Zack & Wiki was advertised
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
differently in each region of release. In Japan, the game was promoted by television personality Kusano Hitoshi. A related manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
titled began publication in the premiere issue of Kerokero Ace
Kerokero Ace
is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten. The magazine is aimed at boys between 9 to 13 years old. It is directly focused on the Sgt. Frog series and other works promoted by Bandai such as Gundam. The magazine contains manga comics, computer game reviews,...
magazine on October 21, 2007. According to Christian Svensson, the company's Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development, Capcom's outreach was largely "family-targeted" rather than for core-gamers. Additionally, despite prominent television advertising
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
in the Japan, the developer wanted to rely on "word of mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
" to market the game in the United States, as it had done with the Ace Attorney series. Capcom later sent out an online reviewer's guide for the press and made a Flash demo available on game's official website. To promote the game in South Korea, Capcom included a mousepad
Mousepad
A mousepad or mouse mat is a surface for enhancing the usability of a computer mouse.-History:During a 1968 presentation by Douglas Engelbart marking the public debut of a mouse,...
and a tiny treasure chest containing a candy necklace with each copy preordered. One hundred of these preorders were to have a real pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
necklace in place of the candy one.
IGN's GamerMetrics had predicted that Zack & Wiki, along with Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy
is a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in most regions in November 2007, and is the third 3D original platformer in the Mario series, after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game follows the protagonist, Mario, on a...
and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, would see a sales boost from the year-end delay of the highly anticipated Wii fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
. However, Zack & Wiki sold only 300,000 copies worldwide by the end of Capcom's fiscal year 2008. The game sold less than 35,000 units in the United States in November 2007 and continued to grow "steadily" in the following months, still yielding much lower sales numbers than other third-party Wii titles from Capcom. After several price drops, Zack & Wiki managed to sell 126,000 units in the region within 26 months of release. Capcom's Senior Director of Communications Chris Kramer described these numbers as "abysmal". The game reached number 29 in the Japanese sales charts during its release week, selling 26,658 units there by the end of 2007. Zack & Wiki reached number 17 in the UK in the all format games charts during its first few days on sale in the country. Finally, the game sold about 8,000 units in South Korea in its first month during the Wii's launch there. Kramer reasoned that the game sold poorly due to the then-current Wii market being "tough to crack" and "ever-shifting" for the third-party publishers lacking knowledge regarding Wii software consumers. Capcom Product Manager Colin Ferris partially blamed the art design for the main character Zack on the game's sales. "Well, you know, Zack & Wiki... Another one in a long line of very highly-rated Capcom games that unfortunately did not sell very well," Ferris said. "We can take a part of the blame on ourselves by having it star a shirtless boy pirate. That is actually a personal favorite of a lot of people in Capcom, so don’t be surprised if you see it again but we have nothing in the works at the moment."
Reception
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure has received very positive reviews, with the controls being especially praised. The game currently has an average of 86% on Game Rankings and 87 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Zack & Wiki received a number of honors, awards, and nominations from the gaming community and by various news and video game publications alike. It received a Gold Award from Official Nintendo Magazine and an "Editor's Choice" label from both IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
. The game won "Best Wii Controls" for 2007 by NGamer
NGamer
NGamer is a British magazine which mainly covers Nintendo video game consoles and software, and also to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
magazine and "Adventure Game of the Year" from GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
. The game was included on IGN's "20 Wii Games You Should Already Own" and Gaming Target
Gaming Target
Gaming Target is a website covering video games and gaming culture that was founded on February 17, 1999 by Matt Swider.-History:When it launched in 1999, Gaming Target focused solely on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color...
's "52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2007". Zack & Wiki was named one of the best games for kids in 2007 by USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, one of the best family games of the year by MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, the ninth best video game of the year by Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, and the twenty-seventh best game of the year by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. The game's control tutorial, in which the player falls out of a plane and must make a parachute out of an umbrella, was called one of the "Greatest Gaming Moments of 2007" by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Leading up to an official announcement on June 18, 2007, Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina is a video game journalist who worked for IGN until April 23, 2010. In his time at the site, he was the author of many reviews and previews of Nintendo games. He resides in Los Angeles, California, is married and has two daughters, Zoe and Fiona Jade, and a son named Rocco Archer...
, the editor-in-chief of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Nintendo Channel, and Mark Bozon had been praising the game for its originality and unique gameplay. In an announcement for the "Buy Zack & Wiki Campaign", Casamassina officially stated that the two would make it their obligation to make sure that as many people as possible will buy the game upon its release.
Awards
- 2nd best game of 2008 (Official Nintendo Magazine)
- 7th best Wii game of 2007 (Nintendo Power)
- 11th best Wii game (IGN)
- Game of the Month, October 2007 (IGN)
- E3 2007 Runner-up Best Adventure Game: Overall (IGN)
- E3 2007 Best Adventure Game: Wii (IGN)
- E3 2007 Best Artistic Design: Wii (IGN)
- Best Puzzle/Parlor Game: Overall (GameTrailers)
- Nominee Best Social/Casual/Puzzle Game (Game Critics Awards)
- Nominee Game of the Year 2007 (1UP.com)
- Nominee Adventure Game of the Year 2007 (Editor's Choice Awards)
- Overlooked Console Gem 2007 (Editor's Choice Awards)
- Japan Game Critics Future Award 2007
- Most Surprising Game 2007 (Nintendo World Report)
- Runner-up Wii Best Value 2007 (Nintendo World Report)
- 26th Best Wii Game (GamePro)
- 25 Games You Shouldn't Overlook (GamePro)
- Runner-up 2007 Wii Game of the Year (Kotaku)
- Nominee Most Original Game 2007 (X-Play)
Capcom reported in June 2008 that it would not be announcing a Zack & Wiki sequel anytime soon.
See also
- Monkey Island (series) - another point-and-click video game series featuring pirates.
External links
- Official website
- Official website
- Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure at Nintendo UK
- Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure at Nintendo AustraliaNintendo AustraliaNintendo Australia Pty. Ltd. established in 1994, located in Victoria is Australia's local head office, sales, licensing and distribution centre for products and other Intellectual Properties created by Nintendo Co., Ltd of Kyoto, Japan and is owned by Nintendo Co., Ltd in Japan. Prior distribution...
- Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure at Nintendo Korea