Wing Island is a novel flight sim swooping to Wii this year and here's the first handful of shots to give you an idea of the quaint, non-violent missions you can expect to fly through. Hit the Images tab above for more airborne views.

Wing Island's appeal is in its unique controls - you hold the Wii-mote just like a toy plane, tipping, pitching and rolling your hand to pilot your on-screen bi-plane through a selection of missions, including Spot the Cows, Deliver the Medicine and a checkpoint chasing race-athon. Performing a "neeeoowwwwrrrhhhhmmmnnn" noise at the same time is entirely optional.

For instance, Spot the Cows tasks you with soaring across an island looking for the farm animals and acquiring them by flying close. Deliver the Medicine has you dropping medical supplies from the air to a stricken island village, while at other times you might be flying through crevices and over cliffs in formation, collecting a set number of balloons in a time limit.

We had a go with Wing Island and found that the controls work pretty well. Our only worry is that it can get very uncomfortable quickly, and your wrist isn't versatile enough to bank and dive in both directions - just try it for yourself with a toy. Maintaining a sense of speed was also difficult, as none of the planes we tooled around in felt exceptionally exciting. With a tweak to the sensitivity and an infusion of energy, Wing Island should be an entertaining, if very basic, aerial adventure with Wii.

October 23, 2006