There are six game modes in Let's Catch, with the bulk of the single-player game coming from the very peculiar Story Mode. Yes, there is a Story Mode in a game about playing catch. Basically, you control your Mii as you play catch with various people and learn about their lives. These people seem very open to talking about everything with you as you'll soon learn about sad kids, insecure baseball players, widower men, lusting women, and an alien.
In Story Mode you are given 20 throws at the start and are only allowed three misses, which are replenished by throwing and catching the ball perfectly. Each throw and catch is scored as Perfect, Good, Normal, and Bad, and you are given points for each throw. Each time you reach a point plateau, you receive 10 more throws. Occasionally, a UFO appears and you can hit it for bonus points (but only if you're coming off of a Perfect catch). The Story Mode is decently lengthy for what it is, and the sheer ridiculousness of it will compel you to play it to completion.
There is also the single player Speed Catch Mode that has you trying to catch progressively faster throws from all the characters from Story Mode. There really isn't much to this mode. It's a helpful tool in learning how to catch harder throws, but it is so limited in scope that it's not worth more than a passing glance.
Catching is done by pressing the A and B buttons when the ball comes to you, and throwing is done by pressing the two buttons and making a throwing motion. The game's controls aren't perfect, though. You have very little control over the direction of your throws, and throwing to the left or right doesn't have much of an effect. Throw velocity is pretty responsive, but the directional controls aren't and could probably have benefited from Wii MotionPlus.
There are four multiplayer games, with two of them for 1-2 players and the other two for 1-4 players. The two-player games are Free Play and High Score. Free Play is a simple endless game of catch, while High Score is basically the two-player version of the Story Mode without the story. One of the four-player modes is Nine Trial, in which you have to knock out nine squares that make up a larger square before your opponent does the same.
All of the above multiplayer modes are decent, but the best multiplayer game in Let's Catch is Bomb Catch, essentially an explosive version of Hot Potato. Every catch in the game is given a grade like in the other modes, but instead of getting points, it subtracts from the timer on the bomb. If a player catches it when the timer goes down to zero, they blow up. Players also blow up when they miss a catch, and each player has three lives before they're out. For such a simple concept, there is a great deal of strategy and an even greater deal of fun to be had.
For all its weirdness, Let's Catch is a really fun game that ranks amongst the best WiiWare multiplayer titles. It might be a little overpriced at 1000 Wii Points ($10), but for players looking for a fun, accessible distraction, Lets Catch is tailor-made for them.
Pros:
Lastability: 5.0
The Story Mode will last you a little while and Bomb Catch is a great multiplayer game, but there isn't much else to go back to besides these two.
Final: 7.0
There is a certain weird charm to Let's Catch that makes it a lot better than it has any right being. There really isn't too much gameplay variety, but the fun and allure of the simplicity of the game of catch is fantastic. And it has an alien in it.
There's a famous baseball player who frequents the park where the game takes place. He plays catch with you, you become buddies and then BAM! he reveals his other job...as a CIA agent. He then asks you if you noticed anything weird, to which I'm yelling at the screen "Yes! There is something weird! All these ****ing people open up to me because I toss a ball at them and a ****ING UFO shows up!" but in reality my Mii says nothing.
Then, as you finish playing catch with him, you just get transported to space and the alien's there being all like "i like your human game of catch."
You play Let's Catch, I'd rather play Let's Pitch.
