How do you expect me to believe that Animal Crossing would make a good mini-game? Wait,this is actually fun.

Another of the games being shown from the Nintendo Land collection this week Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. While Sweet Day is clearly designed to play with a collection of friends, something a trade show filled with complete strangers doesn’t exactly facilitate, the mini-game does have the makings of a fun time. I can see spending many an hour with Sweet Day on Wii U, especially when playing with four friends, possibly with some adult beverages.

The Sweet Day premise is quite simple at its core; four players with Wii Remotes are attempting to collect a set number of candy pieces that are scattered around the map while the player with the Wii U GamePad is playing as two guards trying to stop them. The candy collectors must work in unison to collect the candy pieces because the candy is located in trees, and each one has a different player limit to knock the candy down. Below each tree has one to three circular pads underneath them, and as the candy collectors step on them, the candy will fall so it may be collected.

The more interesting aspect is the player that controls the Wii U GamePad. This player controls both guards simultaneously, each controlled by either analog stick. This could get confusing at times because it is difficult for your brain to process controlling two different characters at the same time. As each guard gets further apart on the map, the overhead view on the Wii U GamePad expands out to show a larger view of the map.

Without having picked up any candy, the candy collectors are faster moving than the two guards, giving them a slight speed advantage. With each piece that is collected however, the size of the collectors head begins to expand, greatly reducing the players speed. There is an option to press a button to drop candy which is a necessary tactic if your team plans on winning.

The winning conditions for each team are rather simple. The four players collecting candy must collect 50 pieces of candy, while the player with the GamePad is tasked with attacking the candy collectors three times. This can either be done by touching the candy collectors, or pushing the respective ZL or RL beneath the left and right analog sticks.

I must say, as the first game I got to play in the Nintendo Land collection, I went in to my demo of Sweet Day with a closed mind. After about 15 minutes or so it was apparent by all the laughter and smiles by not only myself, but the other jaded gamers that there was something special about this game. After playing through the rest of the games in the collection, it was clear to me that once just about anyone gets their hands Nintendo Land and more specifically Wii U, Nintendo will make them believers.

Eugene lives in New Mexico and has been a life long gamer since getting his hands on an NES. Always partial to Nintendo, Eugene has made it a point to keep informed on all things Mario.