When I was assigned to cover this game, the conversation went something like: "Hey, you’re reviewing Where’s Waldo." "No I’m not. It’s not on the Virtual Console and I’m not digging up an NES for it." "This is a new version for the Wii. You’re reviewing it." "...Oh. Okay." And that’s how I wound up playing what amounts to a Where’s Waldo book in electronic form. For those not familiar with the long-running franchise, the premise of something of a visual scavenger hunt; you’re presented with a huge drawing with all kinds of activity going on, and you have to find certain characters and items in the mess. This almost always includes the brown-haired man in the red and white striped shirt, Waldo, and there is a certain charm to his adventures; that Waldo books are still selling today is a good indication someone out there enjoys this.

So on its face, a Where’s Waldo video game might make some sense. If done inexpensively enough, the addition of music, light animation, and mild video game mechanics could make it a fine offering to Waldo fans. Unfortunately, this game retails around $30, which a quick look online suggests is about the same as you’d pay for three Waldo books. That means you would basically be paying for a ’super deluxe electronic Waldo book’, and I’m not sure even fans of the franchise would like the result.

The premise of this Waldo game is almost exactly like the books; you’re looking at a huge image, find Waldo and his friends, then find various items. This goes on for several stages, and you just scroll around using the Wiimote, then point and click when you think you’ve found something. What being a Wii game adds to this formula is some soft music, voice acting, and some animation to parts of the image. It also adds a few side games, such as comparing the image with a modified version of itself and finding the differences. You also get a few hints along the way, making it easier to track some things down. Each stage/image will last you about five to ten minutes, or about double that when you unlock side-games to play on them. The difficulty otherwise seems to be about the same as an actual Where’s Waldo book, which is just as well.

Unfortunately, the length is also about the same as a Where’s Waldo book. That’s a problem because, as mentioned earlier, most of them tend to go for a third or half the cost of this game. Is $15 to $20 extra really worth it for a little music, very basic animations to parts of the image, and some voice acting? I don’t think it is. But I admit I am not the game’s target audience; I am not a child, and am neutral toward the Waldo franchise. I thought about this for a while, wondering what would happen if I could take this game back in time to present to myself when I was ten years old. I gave it some serious consideration and realized that at first, ’child-me’ would be fascinated by the Wiimote and its technology, then be upset that an ’electronic Where’s Waldo book’ like this costs thirty bucks, lose interest quickly, and go back to playing River City Ransom. I think the same would be true of children of today’s generation too if they have spent much time with any of today’s systems; they’re going to want to play a video game, not a book.

With that in mind, I don’t think I can recommend this for purchase to much of anyone. If you’re a parent looking for a family friendly game, please understand you and/or your children will breeze through this game in no time at all. If you’re fans of Where’s Waldo, rent this; you can likely complete this game in the span of a single rental, and I believe that would be a good use of your time and money. But if you have no special fondness for the franchise, pass on this; the Wii has tons of other family friendly games that are genuinely engaging and will last you a while. It’s not that this is some sort of legendarily bad game, it just represents very bad value for the money and is only going to interest a specific audience.