Chasing Aurora is a charming looking Wii U game from the same developers (Broken Rules) that brought you And Yet It Moves. Chasing Aurora has a beautiful art style that makes you feel like you’re in a lovely dream. It features some very enjoyable asynchronous multiplayer while still providing a great experience for the score seekers out there.

Chasing Aurora’s single player mode or Trail Chase mode is really simple but look gorgeous. You control one of five different colored birds through different terrains from  across the world. It’s your goal to loop your bird through rings across the relatively small map in the amount of time given. Think NIGHTS Journey Of Dreams if you really want an example of how the flying and time constricted mechanics. Each level starts of with a timer, passing through the check points in the rings will earn you time bonuses. Additionally, if you reach 20 checkpoints, you’ll earn a multiplier boost that further extends the clock and continues the game. In these instances, levels can be a simple 2 minute match up to a staggering 10 minutes, it varies on the player and level. All 20 of these levels vary in difficulty all the way from childishly simple to terribly frustrating.

Trail Chase is all about scoring. Keep the timer up and going through loops will eventually earn you a star coin that will unlock the next level in the game. After completing all 20 levels, Trail Chase becomes a mode of pure scoring. Eventually you’ll be playing to keep a high score rather than for the heck of it. In this case, if you’re into bragging about high scores, Trail Chase might just be for you. However if you’re not about getting the highest score, Trail Chase may just get a bit too repetitive for your taste.

Flying across these levels so much fun and feel so natural with the control scheme provided with the Wii U. On the Gamepad, the left analogue stick controls your flight, the A button is used to flap your bird’s wings, and holing down the right shoulder buttons will close your birds wings in order to perform a sharp quick dive. Broken Games also encourages you to think like a majestic Eagle or Hawk and not just some sort of humming-bird. You’re not suppose to flap your wings meaninglessly but instead keep a constant pace to catch the blowing gust of winds blowing past you.  It feel more natural to control your birds this way, rather than just button mashing the A button.

The multiplayer mode of Chasing Aurora is its most compelling and enjoyable feature. With its asymmetrical gameplay, Chasing Aurora provides three different game modes for up to five players: Hide & Seek, Freeze Tag, and Chase. Hide & Seek is exactly what it says, the person controlling his/her bird with the Gamepad while the people playing with Wii remotes have to find and catch him/her. It’s very fun to play and feel very Nintendo Land – Mario Chase like. Freeze Tag has the Gamepad player play as an ice bird who has to freeze tag the rest of the birds. Chase is a game of keep away has one player has to grab a shiny object and keep it away from his/her opponents for long amounts of time. After completing a three stage tutorial for these modes, you’ll unlock a tournament mode that shuffles in these modes all into one package for you and your friends to play.

Chasing Aurora has some beautiful visuals that honestly just make you want to skip the rings in Trial Chase and just fly around the level. The origami like graphics look amazing and there’s an excellent soundtrack the matches it. Each song corresponds the tone that each level gives off from the green forest to the rocky terrain of the mountains.  It’s beautifully arranged and you’ll be sure to get lost in it when playing.

Chasing Aurora is a great game but it’s certainly not for everybody. While the multiplayer mode is definitely the reason to play Chasing Aurora. When you don’t have friends to play with, Chasing Aurora becomes a game of high scores, one that doesn’t even have an online leader board. It’s still a great game that many will have fun with but if you don’t like having to replay levels just to have a high score that you’ll only be able to show people who are there at home with you, Chasing Aurora will seem short to you.However, if you are into getting high scores and if you were especially into NIGHTS on the Dreamcast, PS2, or Wii, Chasing Aurora might just be the game to pick up with your new Wii U.