If you are old enough to have grown up when the NES was the games console of choice, then you might just remember a piece of orange and grey plastic known as the zapper. The zapper was, in 1980s parlance, a "light gun"; a new concept in video gaming that used a gun-shaped controller for shooting games by enabling you to point your zapper at the screen and pull the trigger to hit targets (Duck Hunt, anyone?). It was designed to look like a science fiction style "ray gun" and it was brilliant, just like having an arcade game in your own living room. While I was never lucky enough to own one (although I did have a temperamental light gun for my Spectrum around the same time) I do remember playing on a friend's NES zapper and it was great fun. Perhaps this is why I felt a glimmer of excitement when Nintendo announced the successor to this technology, almost 20 years after the original - the Wii zapper. When the prototype was first shown off at the E3 convention, the design was not dissimilar to the original, being shaped like a pistol. However, by the time the Wii zapper came to launch it had changed design drastically into the format that I am now reviewing, and now comes packaged with the game "Link's Crossbow Training".

The Wii Zapper is not a thing of beauty. That said, it is rugged and solidly built, and some thought has gone into the best ways to incorporate the existing Wii controllers into it. Both controllers fit perfectly and securely into their cradles, and at no point using it did I feel that they might come loose, however much I jerked the zapper around. It is easy to set up, and the connecting cable between the controllers fits tidily into the compartment so it does not hinder gameplay - but they really should have done something about the wrist strip as well, which I feel I need to remove every time I use the zapper as otherwise it can become a nuisance. The biggest drawback with this design that I found, however, is that it quickly becomes uncomfortable to use - and this is clearly a major flaw. In order to use the zapper like a gun, you need to hold it up to shoulder height and sight along the barrel for maximum accuracy; while there is no great weight in the thing, the fact that you have to sit in a slightly hunched position to best use it means I soon got stiff and uncomfortable. Worse, the amount of grip that was required to support and control the zapper in this slightly unnatural position meant my hands and wrists began to ache after a relatively short period of using it.

**The Software**
The software that comes with the zapper is the mini-game "Link's Crossbow Training", nine levels of zapper-orientated shooting action featuring the green-clad hero from the Zelda games. While there isn't as much content in it as you would get from a full Wii game - you couldn't really expect something bigger than this for the price - it does its job of allowing you the see what the zapper is capable of in a package that represents pretty good value for money. Each of the nine levels in the game is split into three stages, and each stage features a different mode of play: target shooting, defender and ranger. The target shooting mode is pretty much self-explanatory; shoot the targets that pop up in the landscape in a set time, with points awarded for hits, extras for bulls-eyes and multiple bonuses for consecutive hits. In defender mode you play a stationary Link being attacked on all sides by various enemies, and as well as aiming and shooting, you need to move the zapper around to allow Link to turn through 360 degrees and face all of his enemies. The ranger levels take things one step further again. You now have completely free movement around the level, and can move Link around using the control stick on the nunchuck, while aiming and shooting enemies within the given time limit.

**My Final Thoughts**
I have mixed feeling about this package. A price tag of £19.99 (currently under £15 on Amazon) for both the zapper and the Link game is good value for money, and Nintendo's use of a cradle for the existing Wii controllers rather than bringing out a whole hew gun controller has undoubtedly kept the cost to gamers down by quite a long way. If you are interested in shooting games then at this price it is worth a try, even if you never go on to purchase further zapper-orientated games. I also like that Crossbow Training has been kept simple and fun so it will have wide appeal. However, I do think it is a shame that Nintendo couldn't have developed a gun cradle that doesn't look quite so silly or feel so uncomfortable to use for more than 15 minutes at a time, and it is this that would probably prevent me from buying further games that utilise the zapper because I don't think my wrists would be able to take it! Likewise, those of us with fond memories of using light guns may well find themselves disappointed.

Not recommended - to hard core gamers (unless you are planning to use the zapper for other game purchases) or to anyone with weak hands and wrists!