Pros: Full remote control is more straightforward than a gun shell.
Cons: Can’t use it with a Wii Remote Charger.
The Good: Buttons Laid Out Nicely
There are a couple of advantages to Penguin’s approach. Player’s don’t have to bother inserting their normal remote into a shell, and buttons can be placed in convenient locations. While typical shells will leave you with all the buttons on the top of the remote, this pistol puts two A buttons on the handle (so you can shoot with either hand) and the 1 and 2 buttons and direction pad on the back of the gun. This works pretty well, although it means you’re doing a lot of work with your thumb. And while a gun shell needs a mechanism to connect the shell’s trigger to the remote’s B button, in the case of Penguin’s pistol, the trigger simply is the B button, which avoids the possibility of a slight lag.
Another advantage to the Crossfire is it gives you an extra remote control. While the design is most suited to shooters, you can play any game with Penguin’s pistol, so if you just like sitting around with a plastic gun in your hand at all times, this is definitely something you need.
The Bad: It's Back to Buying Batteries
For me the main disadvantage of the pistol is that I can’t use a Wii remote charge station, but instead must put batteries in the handle. This isn’t a big deal, of course, if you don’t have a charger anyway.
Conclusion: A Solid Pistol-Remote
While it’s simple design is less exciting than Komodo’s Buckshot shotgun or the sci-fi themed gun shells that come with Nerf’s two N-Strike games, the Crossfire is a well-designed little pistol-remote that does what it’s supposed to do: it let’s you pretend you are shooting aliens with a gun and not with a television remote control.
