Handbell Harmony works a bit like Guitar Hero – with a scrolling note/times action sort of interface, but it’s actually a bit harder. The game has players holding two colored handbells, each corresponding to the real-life Wii-mote and nunchuk. Again, the songs start off easily – "Oh Christmas Tree" is a breeze – but soon, things get satisfyingly challenging.

Finally, Pitch Perfect tests a player’s ability to correctly gauge pitch and identify harmony, discordance, etc. It’s a nice little test of progress, because this game has actual bearing on one’s musical knowledge (and not just reflexes/rhythm, etc.).

As I stumbled among all the lessons and modes, I started to actually enjoy myself. I did find the game underwhelming at first; I was disappointed by the overly kiddie presentation and handholding by the weird, vaguely Italian Maestro dude who gives all lessons, and by the atrocious quality of the actual music. But the games section had me absolutely hooked for hours, and I began to appreciate the (admittedly very basic) ability to deconstruct and learn musical styles in the lessons section. And while multiplayer was a dud (my casual friends – and my guinea pigs – were much more into Guitar Hero III; I can certainly see a family with children enjoying it for quite a while.

The audio-visual presentation is Wii –era Nintendo minimalism at its most obvious. While the sparseness of Wii Sports was cute and fun and perfectly suitable for a pack-in game, Wii Music seems a bit... well, tacky for a full-priced game. The Mii aesthetic works fine, and the background music (for all menu screens) is bouncy and inoffensive, but the actual quality of the various virtual instruments is as cheesy and cheap sounding as it was at the game’s hilariously bad showing at this year’s E3. It’s MIDI all the way, and gamers weaned on today’s music games may throw down their Wii-motes in disgust upon hearing the tinny samples coming out of their speakers.

Still, Nintendo’s not really aiming at the audio elite with this title, and I’ve taken that into account with this review. As such, it really is a fantastic game for families and casual players who may be interested in a friendly, gentle ‘my first music lesson”. You really will get a better sense of how instruments work together in a song, and gain some appreciation of music theory if you stick with the lessons and games. If you’re a musician or a music snob, you’ve already run for the hills, but parents and curious casuals should give this one a second look. To paraphrase an old joke – "It’s not pretty, but it sure has a great personality".

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