Snowball Fight

From Fit Game Wiki

Object of the Game

Your Mii has challenged all the other Miis to a snowball fight! It's you against the world in a crowded stadium. You have to knock out as many of your opponents as possible in the time limit - before they permanently knock you out.

Equipment required

This game requires use of:

Wii Balance Board
Wiimote

MET

Snowball has a MET of 2, meaning that it is a light intensity activity.

Time

This game takes up to ninety seconds. You can shorten this time by being permanently knocked out.

Levels

There are three levels of Snowball Fight:

Beginner

Shields are arranged in two rows: two small shields in front and three large shields in the back; the shields on each side of the back row are in front of the shelters harbouring your opponents.
Starts with four opponents.
Has fewer opponents.
Has fewer snowmen (see Snowmen in the Hazards section below).
Has pause points at ten defeated opponents and sixteen defeated opponents (see Pause Points in the How to Play the Game section below).
Has three regenerating lives (see Being hit below).

Advanced

Has a shield arrangement of two small shields in the front row, two large shields on each side in the back, and three small shields in the middle of the back row (replacing the large shield in the Beginner level). The shields on each side in the back are still in front of the shelters harbouring your opponents.
Starts with two opponents.
Has more opponents.
Has more snowmen (see Snowmen in the Hazards section below).
Has pause points at twelve defeated opponents and twenty defeated opponents (see Pause Points in the How to Play the Game section below).
Has three regenerating lives (see Being hit below).

Expert

Has the same shield arrangement as that of the Advanced level.
Your opponents throw snowman heads instead of snowballs! You, however, are still stuck throwing snowballs.
Starts with five opponents.
Has many more opponents.
Has many more snowmen (see Snowmen in the Hazards section below).
Has pause points at twelve defeated opponents and twenty defeated opponents (see Pause Points in the How to Play the Game section below).
Has no regenerating lives: one hit and you are out (see Being hit below).

How to play the game

The game concept is simple: knock out as many of your opponents as possible while avoiding their snowballs.

Moving

Shift your weight from side to side on the Wii Balance Board to move your Mii to one side or the other of the shield in front of it.
Moving allows you to throw snowballs at your opponents, but leaves you vulnerable to their snowballs as well.
Moving allows you to avoid being hit. Even if the snowball is about to reach you, if you move out of the way at the last second, you won't be hit.
If you stand in centred on the board, your Mii will be protected behind the shield, but he will not be able to throw snowballs at his opponents.

Throwing snowballs

Aim your Wiimote in the direction of the opponent you want to hit.
Press the 'A' button.
You can press the 'A' button continually to make your Mii's throwing arm into a semi-automatic weapon.
You have an unlimited number of snowballs.

Being hit

This section only applies to the Beginner and Advanced levels. You are alloted no regenerating lives at Expert level, so one hit and you are permanently knocked out.

Each time you are hit, it takes one of your lives with it. Your lives are represented by the three hearts on the lower part of the screen. At the start, each heart is red, but each hit turns a heart black.
If all three hearts turn black, then you are permanently knocked out of the game.
Your lives regenerate so that a few seconds after a hit, the life will return and the heart will be red again.
When you are hit, snow partially obscures your vision for a few seconds, then clears.
It is possible to have been hit three times but still be alive: if the hits were not simultaneous, then at least one of your hearts will have regenerated a bit. If you are hit at this point, you will be permanently knocked out. If you manage to duck all the snowballs, though, your hearts will regenerate as normal.

Pause points

At times during the game, you will find yourself facing only one opponent. This is the final member of a team.
When you knock out this opponent, then a new team will come out.
At Beginner level, the first new team doesn't come out until you have knocked out the tenth opponent. On the Advanced and Expert levels, the teams are bigger, so the first new team doesn't make an appearance until you have knocked out the twelfth opponent.
At Beginner level, the second new team doesn't come out until you have knocked out the sixteenth opponent. On the Advanced and Expert levels, the second new team doesn't come out until you have knocked out the twentieth opponent.

Hazards

There are a number of hazards that make this game difficult, even at the Beginner level.

Snowmen

Snowmen are actually Miis wearing a snowman costume.
The snowman costume makes the Mii move faster and improves its accuracy at throwing.
It takes two hits on a snowman to knock him out. The first hit removes the Mii's costume and he stands there, dazed. The second hit knocks him out.
If you fail to make the second hit on a snowman, he will, after a few seconds, come out of his daze, run behind a shelter, and put back on his costume. He is then a normal snowman again, that is, it still takes two hits to knock him out.

Crossfire

Your opponents throw snowballs at you from all sides.
Sometimes, on the Expert level, your opponents will throw their missles over shields.

Unlimited opponents

No matter how many of your opponents you shoot, more will be on their way.
Opponents do come out in patterns, however (see Pause Points in the How to Play the Game section above).

Cool features

Shooting down your opponent's snowballs

You can shoot your opponent's snowballs and snowman's heads while they are in the air. They will disappear with a 'Thpppss' sound. This doesn't increase your score, but it will keep you from being hit by that missile.
You can sometimes, if you are lucky, shoot snowballs and snowman's heads out of your opponent's hands. They will disappear with a 'Thpppss' sound and the eyes of the Mii will grow large. Again, it doesn't increase your score, but it does mean that there is one less thing to hit you.
If, at the beginning, before your opponents come out, you shoot the ground in front of you, you can see the holes that the snowballs make.

Shooting Miis that have fallen down

Your opponents sometimes fall down except when they are wearing the snowman costume.
It may not be sporting, but you can shoot Miis when they are on the ground or when they are getting up.
If you hit a Mii when he is on the ground or getting up, yes it does count as a hit in the game.

Scoring

Your score is simply the number of opponents you have knocked out.

Hints and Tips

Keep moving, particularly on the Expert level. Never, ever stay behind the shield because you cannot score from there.
Keep shooting. This is particularly important while you are moving. You won't hit anything when you are in the middle of a move, but as you duck out on the other side of the shield, your snowballs will already be in the air.
If you are hit, keep shooting even though you can't see what you are shooting at. As you are one and they are many, you have a good probability of hitting at least one of them.
Keep the front of your Wiimote dipped down, so that the shots will hit at just above ground level. This improves your accuracy by preventing you from shooting over a Mii's head.
To keep the Wiimote steady, you might wish to hold it in both hands.
Keep pause points to a minimum amount of time, that is, knock out all your opponents quickly. Don't think, great, I've eliminated all but one of my opponents. Instead, think, oh dear, I've only one opponent left and I need more to get a higher score.
Miis are pretty bad shots. Miis wearing snowman costumes are better shots, but they are still not great shots.
The snowman heads that your opponents throw at you in the Expert level are not as bad as they look. Mainly, they serve to intimidate you. Don't be intimidated, though. They are actually easier to duck. You can wait just a little longer to get out of the way of a snowman's head before the game counts it as a hit than you can for a snowball.
Remember that while you waste no time at all having to gather up snowballs - you are a semi-automatic weapon with unlimited ammunition - your opponents have to take the time to make their missiles. In particular, it takes them longer to make snowman's heads than it does snowballs.
On Beginner and Advanced levels, you sometimes have to weigh up the choice of taking out opponents where to do so will mean that you stand a good chance of being hit by a snowball. If you have the lives to spare, it is better to take the hit. After all, it isn't the lives that you have left that count on your score, but the number of opponents you have hit.
When the game ends, if you have a snowball in the air and it would have hit a Mii, the game will allow it to hit that Mii and add it to the score. If, however, a snowball is coming at you, no matter whether it would have hit you and knocked you out, the game will not allow it to have any effect on you.
There is a pattern to your opponent's movement:
- On the beginner level, a Mii will duck out from the large dark green shield to throw snowballs at you on the same side of the shield that he ducked behind. This does not apply for Miis behind the smaller orange shields.
- The initial move that the Miis make is always the same. For instance, on Beginner level, the Mii behind the small shield on the righthand side of the first row will always come out first.
- After you knock out all the initial opponents, a snowman will come out from the lefthand back row shield. This is the not same clearing away your opponents before a pause point. There are a number of opponents who start out on the field. Once you have cleared those, the next team member, always wearing a snowman costume, comes out.
Practice, practice, practice! Your reflexes will improve and so will your score.