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Tetris Party Deluxe (Wii)
by NicndDan
Since its original incarnation all those years ago there have been such a wide variety of Tetris games released over the years its hard for a new game to come into the market and take the addictive puzzler to the next level. What more can be done with Tetris that hasn't been done before? Where next do you take the series that revolves ... around created lines with spaces? If there has ever been a Tetris game worth investing in over the past 5 years then Tetris Party Deluxe on the Wii is surely it.
As a huge fan of the puzzling title I have always ensured that I have it in some form on my Nintendo consoles for when that inevitable urge to do some Tetrising comes back. I actually was quite excited about this release buying it on its release date paying £19.99. It can be gotten for cheaper now and the amount of hours of fun you will have with this game makes it well worth every penny you pay.
For anyone living under a rock for the past 20 years Tetris is a game whereby you make lines of blocks to clear the screen. Various shapes fall from the top and you have to put them into lines to win. Simple premise, addictive game.
This party edition is the first and thus far only title on the Wii in the series. Graphically is nice and colourful, good backgrounds, good effects in the various modes and visually up to scratch. About as far as you can go with Tetris as the series has never been about graphics. The music is subtle and light, nothing too annoying and I certainly haven't noticed it in my many hours on the game meaning it cant be that bad!
The game is based on the multiplayer aspect of things although there is a strong single player element e.g setting high scores, challenge modes and time trials. Plenty of variations on the original theme to keep it feeling fresh whilst really only playing the same game. It's the ultimate "one more game" title and beating those scores will keep you playing hours.
The controls are easy to use making no use of the Wii's motion capabilities. Simply turn the remote on its side and use as a joy pad. Easy but I do find playing the wii mote this way hurts the fingers after a while. After all its not really the ideal "normal" pad is it? This I found works far better with the Wii Classic Controller or Gamecube pad
But its in the multiplayer that this title really comes to live and with support for up to four players it can be intense. The one issue we had at first was playing on anything under a 40 inch TV becomes hard because with 4 Tetris games on the go its hard to concentrate. Many a time on my 32 inch I missed moves not through lack of skill but because it was way to hard to see. This only really matters in four player mode but it is an issue on smaller tv's.
The gameplay though is fast and frantic with so many modes, battle modes, score chases, challenges, timed matches that you will be kept going for a lifetime. Short games, long marathons or standard Tetris, games where your lost blocks transfer over, special moves.....all contribute to make this a fun, fresh and lively experience. Endless hours of fun, easy to play, quick to load and so competitive.
Overall I feel this is one of the must have titles on the Wii in terms of puzzle games, all the new boys on the block try and fail but in this title Tetris shows why it is and always will be puzzle master!
Also on CIAO
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Boom Blox (Wii)
by loopy-lou33
Boom Blox was the first game that I bought for the Wii when we first had it a couple of years ago. I chose the game because it looked like a fun party game that all the family would be able to play together.
The game is the result of a rather unlikely collaboration between Mr "E.T" Spielberg and E A games, who are ... more well known for their sports simulation games such as Fifa soccer. I was interested to see what the result would be of this strange pairing!
The premise of the game is really simple, and the graphics are fun and cartoony, with lots of cutesy animal characters, which instantly makes the game appealing to kids. Generally the game is easy to play, but there are some difficult and frustrating aspects, which I will touch on during the review. The aim of the game, broadly speaking, is to knock down towers of blocks using several methods:
Throw: This is the most simple method of knocking down towers and you have access to different sized balls, such as baseballs or bowling balls, which behave in different ways. You can use you wii remote to select your throwing ange before launching your ball at the tower using a throwing motion with your arm.
Blast: Blast is basically aiming the remote at the screen and using the button to shoot targets. Again, this is very simple to do.
Pull: Pull is a bit of a tricky skill to master and involves lasoing blocks and pulling them out with a sweeping arm motion, a bit like a game of virtual jenga. This is a bit hard for very small kids to do and quite frustrating.
You can also build blocks and use the "create" mode to make your own towers to knock down.
There are different types of blocks in the game and they have different properties when they are hit, such as points blocks, which give you extra points, and chemical blocks, which react with one another when you hit them. This makes the game more interesting and adds a skill level.
The game has several play modes. The adventure mission based mode is for a single player and has 300 levels. The missions are based over four worlds: A medeival knight world, a Tiki Jungle, the wild west and a halloween world. You have to use the various skills outlined above to complete missions and progress through the game.
While the mission mode is OK, the real fun of the game is in the fantastic multiplayer mode. here you can have up to 4 players against each other knocking down blocks and earning points. You can choose to play in a co-operative mode, which is nice if you are playing with very young kids, but the real joy is in the competitive mode, where you are all pitted against each other. this really is the perfect party game and there are lots of different ways to play, although personally, my favourites are the throwing levels where you have to knock out the points blocks.
My kids love the game and we have lots of fun playing together as a family as it is nice and simple to play and anyone can pick the game up. There are a couple of aspects that are slightly hard, such as the pull mode, that I mentioned earlier, but also locking onto your target which can be a bit hit and miss. The trowing mode can really make your arm ache after a while, but I suppose it is good exercise!
In conclusion, this is a great party game and perfect for families to play together. The graphics are colourful and bright and the music cheerful, although I would have liked a bit more music in the game. The controls are simple and intuitive generally, and it makes full use of the wii remote capabilities, so all in all I give this game 4 stars as it is a game that you will return to again and again and has good longevity.
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Big Brain Academy (Wii)
by miss_high1987
I bought Big Brain Academy for Wii for my mum and dad and we had so much fun playing it that I eventually bought a copy for myself too! The idea is that you play series of metal games in different categories; memorise, identify, compute (maths), visualise or analyse. Each aims to build up your brain function in different areas. Does this ... actually work? I have no idea - you certainly get better at the games as you practice but whether this means your brain function is actually improving I would be reluctant to say.
Nevertheless, the games are certainly fun. You can play in teams, against each other or on your own trying to beat your own scores. This means that the whole family can play and each game is short meaning that you are not waiting for ages for someone to take their turn. As each person finds their best games and the games get harder and harder, it can get quite competitive!
The only bad thing i have to say about this game is that sometimes the 'host' - the little figure introducing the games and summing up how well you did, can be a little bit annoying and there is no good way to skip his introductions. However, this is only a minor problem and I would certainly recommend this to anyone looking for an easy to use, interactive game for large groups of people.
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