Finding your own fun in games can be a slippery slope. Even in the most dreadful of games, you still want something to hold on to. But how do you approach that with games you are so familiar with? That’s what was on my mind when I booted up Amiibo Tap/Amiibo Touch & Play, a new free Wii U application available in North America and Europe today. I toyed around with the Japanese version a week ago now and I am still not quite done with it yet. Why? I still have scenes to play that I want to finish.

You see, in Amiibo Tap, you scan an Amiibo to unlock a game. It is not a full game mind you, but various scenes from that title. How many scenes there are depends on the NES or SNES title. Dr. Mario only has three moments to choose from, while the original Super Mario Bros. ramps it up to nine. By tapping the Amiibo assigned to the game, you can swap between the various scenes and get a quick burst of retro energy. In comparison to the Masterpieces mode in the Super Smash Bros. series, the scenes are more well selected. Amiibo Tap has the intention of showing you the best moments of the title in question.

Of course, there’s a catch. Every scene only lasts three minutes; once the timer is up, your time is done. You can play it again, but you can't progress further beyond that time limit. This is where I found my fun with this game. I wanted to see how far I could get in a specific scene before time ran out. I would write down my scores, tried to remember my last location, and see if I could push myself even harder. Before I knew it, I spent an entire evening doing it and didn't know when to quit.

If you are need of something quick to play, Amiibo Tap seems absolutely perfect for that. The emulation doesn't seem as proper as the true Virtual Console, but it is nice alternative to buying them. Improving my skills on games like Super Metroid, Super Mario Bros. 3, Balloon Fight, and F-Zero was just delightful. I could totally see an active Miiverse community getting behind all of this, as they try to best each others times and scores to absolute perfection. It’s not a replacement for Virtual Console, but it’s an interesting alternative.

The only issue is that you naturally need some Amiibo to play around with Amiibo Tap. While they are clearly more expensive than buying the game outright, if you already have an assortment of figurines, you are good to go. You have to make sure that they are attached to an owner though or else you won't be able to use the figurines. If your friends have an Amiibo figure with them, you can use those as well, but you can't access that game until they bring their Amiibo once again. You might have to jump a few hurdles to access each game, but the whole experience was surprisingly enjoyable regardless.