The Wii is always falling victim to terrible ports that shoehorn in motion controls and are just plain terrible. But, once in awhile, a truly unique title emerges. Usually these are limited to coming directly from Nintendo, but the odd partnership of EA and Steven Spielberg has created a game that could only exist by taking full advantage of Nintendo’s one-of-a kind platform. In doing so, a true must-have for the system has emerged in Boom Blox.
At its core Boom Blox invokes childhood memories of playing with blocks, Lincoln Logs and Legos. Each level will present you with a variety of puzzles and objectives which you must solve using the very simple, but wonderfully tuned, controls. Tasks range from the very simple-like knocking over a tower of blocks with baseballs-to slightly more complex-like building walls to protect characters. These challengers never feel overwhelming, but you will always find yourself striving for efficiency to earn more unlockables.
The controls are really outstanding. They are tight, simple, and effective. When you’re pulling on a stuck block the remote will vibrate, giving you the feeling of resistance. Throwing is as simple as locking on and giving a good strong swing. You will be able to grab and pull blocks any way you want. The physics will encourage you to take a careful look at later puzzles to find the best way to tackle them. While it can take a little work to get that perfect shot lined up, the controls do their job perfectly.
Adding to the charm of the game is a very simple art style that is smooth and crisp. Bright simple colors make identifying blocks easy although some people may be turned off by this simple art style as well as the characters. Most of your challenges involving helping out little brick shaped animals in some form or another. It may be reuniting a mother gorilla with her babies or helping a mustachioed squirrel get his gold back form bandits. The story really isn’t a standout and you will find your self skipping past the storybook page cutscenes pretty quickly. That the story never detracts from the game is a sign of who this game is interned for: Kids and parents. Not to say I didn’t have a blast playing it.
You will also have the option to build your own puzzles using objects you unlock in the story mode. These can range from simple towers to complex Rube Goldberg-style contraptions. The creation tools are very simple to use, and will even give you a few pre-made templates to work off of and expand. It can be a little hard, at times, to get something placed just right, but for the most part it works just fine.
While there is plenty to do by yourself, Boom Blox really shines in groups. The multiplayer, while simple, is incredibly addictive and downright fun. Frantic ball-throwing and hold-your-breath moments are made all the more exciting knowing that a few of your friends have their fingers crossed waiting for you to make one wrong move. You will get four different modes to play around in, with a dozen or so stages each. For the most part they are all fun, except the shooting gallery stages which don’t show the same polish or level of enjoyment as the rest of the game does. In both single and multiplayer, these stages boil down to nothing more then button mashing.
What really makes Boom Blox great is how well it uses the system. It may not be perfect, and it’s definitely not pushing the system’s graphical limits, but it shows the real creativity of something the can only be done on the Wii, and other publishers would do well to take notice of this. Boom Blox truly is a must-have. Come on-who doesn’t enjoy pegging monkeys with tennis balls?
+ Outstanding multiplayer
+ Great use of the Wii remote
+ Fun single player
+/-Some people will be turned off by the characters
- Some modes not very fun at all
- Easy level sharing would have been nice
Grade A-