Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, known in Japan as Takarajima Z: Barbaros no Hihō (宝島Z バルバロスの秘宝, lit. "Treasure Island Z: Barbaros' Secret Treasure") is an adventure/puzzle game published and developed by Capcom for the Nintendo Wii console. It was first released in North America on October 23, 2007, and was later released in Japan, PAL regions, and as one of eight Wii launch games in South Korea. It was later re-released for the American Wii U Virtual Console. Zack & Wiki was directed by Eichiro Sasaki and produced by Hironobu Takeshita.

Zack & Wiki Trailer - Nintendo Wii

Commercial (JP)

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 games, 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, with the controls being heavily praised. However, the game suffered much less enthusiastic sales worldwide.

Gameplay

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is presented as a third-person perspective adventure game. 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 Zack through the Wii Remote by pointing to objects on the screen, identified by an on-screen 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 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 reputation 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 any time during a stage.

Special Treasures

Hidden in every mission is a special treasure. These treasures take the form of icons from some of Capcom's oldest and most classic games. They're hidden well and most often require Wiki's bell to appear. Players don't get anything special for getting all of them, they just go towards the treasure total. For completists, these are the most challenging and rewarding parts of the game.

These include the following:

• Vulgus

• SonSon

• TonTon

• Momotaro

• Exed Exes

• Commando

• Ghosts 'n Goblins

• Gun.Smoke

• Section Z

• The Speed Rumbler

• Side Arms

• Bionic Commando

• Mega Man

• Armored Warriors

• 1941

• Captain Commando

• Varth

• Mega Man X

• Eco Fighters

Characters

Promotional art of Zack & Wiki with Barbaros' skull.

• Zack

• Wiki

• Captain Rose

• Barbaros

• Captain Hulk - When Zack talks to him, he will show him the main world map, whereby players can select a mission to try to tackle.

• Johnny Style - The bunny pilot of Zack and Wiki's airplane, which crashes into an island at the beginning of the game. He is also the game's mechanic and rough around the edges, but well respected by the others. His favorite expression is "Oh my!"

• Loafrey - Loafrey tells players how to operate items and contraptions in each of the missions of the game.

• Dimmy - When Zack talks to him, he will give hints about how to progress through the game, as well as rumors. Hearing new ones will add them to the Rumors book on the bookshelf.

• Maddy - The adventurous Maddy shows up a little ways into the game, offering to search the world for treasure. Point to any spot on the map and he'll take off for it, coming back after the next mission is complete. It costs coins to send him out, more for sending him further away. Once he comes back, he'll show the treasure he's found, which varies in number and rarity.

• Goons - Rose's army of frog bomb-toting henchmen, who obey her every whim. She is verbally abusive to them, and does not seem concerned in the slightest if they are endangered as long as they heed her.

• Growlin' Goblins - A strange group of savages living in Jungle Ruins who seem to be under the influence of a magic flute.

• Hint Oracle - An odd character calling herself "Granny" who sells Zack either Oracle Dolls which provide players with a clue as to what to do next, or Platinum Tickets which allow players to continue from where they left off if they lose a life. She tries to pass herself off as two separate people by donning a blonde wig and fake angel wings.

• Jeeves - the master of the Ice Temple stage created this broom-carrying robot to help with garden maintenance. Unfortunately, it won't let the master step foot outside now.

• Bonelich von Skeleski - is the conductor of Barbaros's famed orchestra. He is a powdered wig wearing skeleton and haunts various locations in the game. Ringing Wiki near him will wake him up and a minigame will begin where the player must play a classic Capcom song by shaking the Wii Remote. If the player succeeds in the task, Bonelich will gives out treasures or upgrades for Wiki.

• King Growl - (Jungle Ruins Boss) - The real king of the jungle and a powerful beast. The ruins may tremble with his every footstep, but he's one banana short of a bunch.

• Swellosaurus - the "Ancient Wyrm" found in the Volcano Cavern stage, this massive beast is the parent of a baby dragon which accompanies Zack.

Enemies

Promotional art.

Wiki's magical ability involves him transforming living creatures into inanimate objects or tools which Zack can use to further his quest. Descriptions come straight from the game.

• Centipede - No matter the heat or cold, this giant centipede is ready to make its appearance. It's even a known delicacy in far off lands. Becomes a Centi-Saw.

• Snake - A common reptile found to make its home in a wide variety of environments. Fear not though, this tenacious slitherer is not poisonous. Becomes a Slither Gripper.

• Spider - A giant spider with a creepy pattern on its body. Rather than use webs, it skips the middleman and leaps straight for its prey. Becomes a Spidaracket.

• Frog - Bigger than the palm of a hand, this stout amphibian will eat everything. Lately, they have become more and more popular as pets. Becomes a Frog Bomb.

• Bat - A big fellow that likes dark places and hanging around. It has learned to eat its food in one swallow to avoid dropping crumbs on the clean floor. Becomes a Batbrella.

• Boar - This charging bovine will try to ram any moving object. It looks upset while running, but that's just an image it's trying to maintain. Becomes a Boarammer.

• Mole - Unlike typical garden-variety moles, this breed dislikes narrow spaces. It even sleeps outside of the hole it digs because it's too cramped. Becomes a Moldrill.

Synopsis

The game details the adventures of Zack, a human boy whose dream is to become the greatest pirate in history. He is accompanied by his best friend Wiki, an enchanted golden monkey Zack found with no memory of his past, capable of turning into a bell and transforming other creatures into objects. The two are members of the "Sea Rabbits", a pirate crew made up of anthropomorphic rabbits, including leader Captain Hulk, pilot Johnny Style, elderly Granny, and crewmen Dimmy, Maddy and Loafrey. The Sea Rabbits frequently clash with rival pirate gang the "Rose Rock" and their leader Captain Rose, a spoiled girl who believes all the world's treasure is hers for the taking. Early in the game, Zack and Wiki meet the infamous pirate captain Barbaros, who has been reduced to an animate golden skull due to unknown magic, and he promises to reward the two if they find the missing pieces of his body.

Plot

While flying to the Sea Rabbits' hideout, Zack and Wiki are attacked by the Rose Rock and their seaplane is shot down. Crash-landing on a tropical island, they discover a treasure chest containing the talking skull of Barbaros, who seems to recognize Wiki. He promises to give the two his legendary pirate ship and lead them to "Treasure Island", a mythical island filled with untold riches, if they will restore his body by collecting its various pieces scattered around the world. Agreeing to his terms, Zack and Wiki begin traveling the world, exploring a jungle, a frozen ruin, a volcano, and Barbaros' haunted castle, and finding treasure maps leading to each of the missing pieces. Along the way, they continue to vie with Captain Rose, who is also after the pieces of Barbaros in hopes of finding Treasure Island.

Upon finding the last missing piece, Zack rings Wiki in order to restore Barbaros to his former self. Now human again, Barbaros turns on Zack, revealing he had planned to keep the ship and the contents of Treasure Island for himself from the beginning.> He also reveals that Wiki was the one who originally cursed him, something Wiki had forgotten. Barbaros then casts the duo into a pit and departs for Treasure Island.

Zack and Wiki escape and are retrieved by Johnny and the Rose Rock, with Rose having agreed to join forces with the Sea Rabbits in exchange for access to Treasure Island. They trail Barbaros to the island, which floats in a gap at the center of the planet. There, Barbaros finds and imprisons the heroes, using Wiki to restore his undead crew. However, Zack manages to outsmart Barbaros and free the others, and they escape with Barbaros' ship as Treasure Island begins collapsing into a wormhole. During their escape, Barbaros attempts one final assault using a large mechanized creature, but Zack repels this attack and uses Wiki to turn Barbaros back into a skeleton. The three are sucked into the wormhole, but Wiki sacrifices himself so Zack can escape. Back at the Sea Rabbits' hideout, Zack remains despondent about the loss of Wiki, but hears a familiar bell ringing and rushes out to find a chest washed up on 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 previously worked on other Capcom titles such as Power Stone 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; the development team 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.

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 Convention, 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 Islamic 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 Takarajima Z Bara Shoku no Shinju (宝島Z バラ色の真珠, lit. Treasure Island Z: Rose-colored Pearl) 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 the 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.

Reception

Reviews

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 Metacritic.

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.

Awards

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. It was also 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 27th 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.

Sales

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 fewer 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. Capcom reported in June 2008 that it would not be announcing a Zack & Wiki sequel anytime soon.

Trivia

• Zack and Captain Rose's likenesses appear in We Love Golf! as cosplay outfits for Leo and Marissa respectively.

Gallery

Johnny Style

Goons

Hint Oracle

Swellosaurus

Box art

Japan

U.S.

Europe

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Korea

External links

• Official North American site

• Official Japanese site

• French site

• Wikipedia article

• Zack & Wiki wikia