The poor little “Point and Click” adventure game. It’s a genre that seems to have been abandoned in a damp and cold little corner somewhere, left to fend for itself while Guybrush Threepwood rallies up the soup kitchen to give it something warm to keep it alive. There was a time when these games were commonplace, giving us such cult classics as Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky, Full Throttle and Broken Sword (the game that had us all asking “just what are we meant to do with that goat?”).

Years have passed and we finally have a new variant on the long forgotten style. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure is something that the Wii, in my opinion, was designed for - and proves that the thinking person’s game can have a home and popularity all over again. This has to depend on how good Capcom’s offering actually is, though. So let’s begin.

The story goes like this. Zack is a member of a gang of pirates accompanied by a hovering golden bear by the name of Wiki. Whilst returning to their hideout they get blown out of the sky by their arch rival and nemesis, Captain Rose. After crash landing, the twosome stumble across a treasure chest containing the head of legendary pirate Barbaros who, in no uncertain terms, would like you to help him recover the rest of his body; offering his ship as an incentive. In order to retrieve these items, Zack must negotiate his way around many levels of puzzle solving and ingenuity.

It’s definitely not a game that will win anyone over in the age old argument that Nintendo consoles are just for kids, as Zack and Wiki is childish through and through; but that’s where its beauty lies. The game itself is stunning, with everything bright, colourful and pleasing to the eye, sporting enough detail to give itself an identity, but not get in the way.

It’s not laden with fashionable cel-shading, but there’s a wonderful cartoon feel to it, bolstered by quirky Japanese anime humour evident throughout. If you don’t laugh at any point in this game, then Sarah Connor is still in danger. The sound effects are also comical and silly, with noises grabbed straight from Wile E. Coyote’s Acme album collection. The music is very well balanced, moving from cutesy, upbeat melodies to sinister and moody tunes, dependant on where you are at the time.

What sets this game apart from others is its gameplay. This has the kind of instant accessibility to it that many titles just don’t have any more, mainly because you’re getting so doped up on tedious tutorials that you’ve already called anger management. Sure, there is a tutorial here, but it’s woven into the storyline in such a way that it doesn’t stick out like a wardrobe malfunction and by the time the first level is finished, you have a pretty good idea of what you’re up against.

It also comes up with pictures of how to hold the remote to perform the actions required for a certain function before you do it, but this never feels like it’s in the way or tedious either. It also allows for your friends to help you by way of a clever system, brushed upon by the equally brilliant Super Mario Galaxy. If a friend has spotted a potential solution somewhere, he can circle the screen by using the Wii-mote to draw a circle where he thinks this answer could be. He could also draw a crude picture of a moo cow, but it just depends on who your friends are, I suppose.

If, like me, you are wise in the ways of the old skool, there are also masses of little things to bring a smile to your face. If you can find them, there are little musical mini-games that pipe out mixes of some of Capcom’s all-time classic games (the Ghosts’n’Goblins one bringing a nostalgic grin to this reviewers face), as well as 80’s arcade stars in all their pixelated form; hidden in the scenery as secret treasure. This not only makes the game fun for the retro heads, but adds genuine replay value, as there’s no way you’ll find all of these little trinkets the first time around (unless you’re Indiana Jones with a Gameboy – and I’m not talking about Short Round here).

Hints are available for a small fee from the Oracle, who’s based at your pirate hideout, but there’s a strong compulsion to complete tasks and puzzles yourself, regardless of any initial frustration, thanks to the cleverly engrossing gameplay. There’s been a lot of careful thought put into the puzzles and there will be times where you’ll grin like a winning reality TV contestant when you finally work them out, I can guarantee.

Zack and Wiki is, quite simply, brilliant. It has so much to offer but asks for very little, other than your valuable time to play it. It does lean towards the point and click genre, albeit the game is split into levels rather that an epic tale of daring-do.

Ultimately, this is another strength of the gameplay mechanics, as it turns into something you can have a quick 10 minute blast at to get another level under your belt or sit for hours and really develop it further. I wish I could find something bad to say about it, but it’s difficult to invent faults. This may ell not be a game for the Halo 3 “I need to frag something because I love the taste of cyber blood” aristobrats, but for the rest of us it’s a game that should be savoured, as the real treasure is the smile on your face every time you play this gem of a game.