This week, people all over the US will be sitting down with friends and family to eat a big ol’ turkey. Just in time to get you into the turkey spirit, here’s Remington’s Great American Bird Hunt for Nintendo Wii. It’s an arcade style shooting gallery game where you hunt duck, geese, and yes, even wild turkey!

In the single player mode, compete in tournaments broken up into rounds. In each round, you’ll have a certain kind of bird to shoot, such as duck, goose, or turkey. All you have to do is aim the remote at the screen and shoot. You can even use the Wii Zapper if you like, but the Wii remote on its own works just as well, if not better. In certain rounds, you must shoot as many birds in the allotted time, while in other challenges, you have a certain number of misses and the round’s over when they’re all up or you shoot all the male birds. Shoot flocks without missing to greatly increase your score.

Some birds have icons over their heads, and if you shoot them, you’ll get a temporary boost, like more ammo before reloading or special hunter goggles that help you see the birds better. Just watch out for illegal game like hens and songbirds, as you’ll get a point deduction if you shoot them. They can be hard to see and differentiate from regular targets, but if you watch and listen carefully, you’ll be able to know when they fly or run by. Earn a high enough score in the tournaments to win medals. Get enough gold medals and you’ll unlock better real life Remington rifles to use in the game. Four players, each with their own remote, can also compete at the same time in the multiplayer party modes.

Remington’s Great American Bird Hunt is very similar to arcade shooting gallery games like Shoot Away or NES Duck Hunt. So if you like those games, you’ll enjoy this one, too. And just like Duck Hunt, you even get a hunting dog. But instead of laughing at you for missing, this dog is actually useful. There’s even a power-up icon that makes your dog flush out higher scoring golden birds!

Kid Factor:

Remington’s Great American Bird Hunt is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Comic Mischief and Violence. Even though you are shooting animals, they just fall and disappear when shot. If you don’t mind your kids playing a hunting game about using rifles, they’ll be OK with this. It’s easy to understand and get into, and even slightly educational as there are fact on each of the birds in the game.

Tags: Game Reviews