Jamie Cannon

Okay. So I’m finally back here to review something. This time around I decided to mix it up with a newer game for the Wii, Boom Blox (May 2008), created by Electronic Arts in cooperation with Steven Spielberg. His name is on the main title screen, and most people will probably never have any idea what he actually contributed to the project, but I liked seeing it because it reminded me of Animaniacs. It’s rated E for Everyone. Boom Blox isn’t something I technically own, but whoever lent it to Steve has left it at the apartment for so long that I keep forgetting it isn’t ours. And, we’ve played it obsessively for weeks now, which is obviously the only qualification necessary for me to compliment/mock any game.

The box art for the game Boom Blox.

The Gist Of It: Like nearly every other game on the Wii, Boom Blox makes exclusive use of the Wiimote. You don’t need the nunchuck to play at all. It has several different game modes, but the main idea of the game is that you’re either basically playing a game of complicated and shiny Jenga, or throwing balls at an intricate tower of blocks in order to knock them down and earn the most points. In single-player, there are over 300 levels broken into two categories, one with a sort of ’story’ to explain why you are flailing around in the living room. Usually, it has to do with a city or town of animals; in the first group of levels, a medieval culture of sheep-people need shiny jewels, then they are attacked by another various animal group, etc. One look at the cover art can give you an idea of what these animal people look like – blocky, squarish things that tend to wiggle to express any and all emotion.

Anyway, before I was sidetracked by the jell-o creatures – the second single-player mode is one that basically familiarizes you with the controls. In multiplayer, things really get interesting. You can have usually two and sometimes four players doing anything from pulling blocks out of a precarious tower, trying to avoid collapse, to chucking bowling balls at the opponent’s block castle, or throwing baseballs at a mountain of gold blocks trying to knock those with high-point values into oblivion. It has some original details as well, like a color-coded tower and a random pick of which color you’re allowed to remove, or giant green blocks that explode when they touch each other, or good old-fashioned bomb blocks that simply go boom.

Technical Notes: The music and sound effects are entirely secondary in this game. You could just as easily turn your sound off and play a CD on your stereo at the same time. That said, if you do listen to the music, it sounds so much like it belongs in The Sims that it tends to make you want to go control virtual people rather than progress beyond the main menu. However, just because it doesn’t add anything to the game doesn’t mean it takes away, either. Most of the time you will be so engrossed in your careful balancing act or trying to aim that perfect shot that you won’t even realize there is music playing. Likewise, the actual graphics are pretty much irrelevant, because to make it look good, it only needs nice-looking explosions and scenery.

Boom Blox is, without a doubt, a game that completely depends on a physics engine, and it’s kind of neat to see it in action. If you ‘grab’ a short block and pull it carefully out from under a long one, the entire structure will shiver and shake as the long block settles down lower – and if you’re not careful, it’ll all come crashing down. In levels where you throw baseballs or bowling balls, the physics is definitely evident – hitting a block at the corner is usually unbelievably more effective than hitting one square in the center. That, combined with the ‘boom’ aspect of the game, can create some really interesting sequences. In fact, single-player mode frequently forces you to set up ridiculous chain reactions in order to conserve a limited number of projectiles. It’s fun to play, and fun to watch, as well.

Control Freak: Since it’s played with the Wiimote, there are only a few buttons at your disposal, and most of them are irrelevant anyway. You hold down B to rotate the camera, and to throw a ball you take aim, hold A, then flick your wrist and release A at the right time. When in grab mode, you just point to the block you want and hold A to take hold of it. This sounds simple but is in fact often frustrating and annoying. If you think you need to mime actually throwing a ball, you’ll be rewarded with a ball tapping lightly on the block or even falling uselessly short of the whole scene. Whether because of the hardware or the way it reads input, the key to throwing (as far as I can tell) is just in moving the Wiimote as close to 180º as possible. If you get your shoulder involved at all you will probably fail. This is the cause for much frustration in multiplayer games when your ‘perfect shot’ fails miserably, and the next person takes it instead and wins the game. Even in single-player it can be annoying because you are frequently limited to a certain number of projectiles and wasting one can eliminate your chance of getting a gold medal, or even the bronze medal needed to pass.

Sweet Details: If nothing else, Boom Blox is a really great idea. As a kid, I played tons of Jenga with my family, and I was actually more excited about that feature than anything else. But once we started trying out the other modes, I was hooked on just about all of them. It’s a fun game you can play with your friends for any length of time, and unlike a lot of puzzle games, it gives you the option to create your own level and share them with people online. I experimented this mode a little bit, and again was distracted by the physics system – I would build precarious structures and then hit “play” to see how long they could stand under their own weight before it all came crashing down. As you play through single-player, you unlock additional scenery pieces and blocks to put in your custom levels, which adds to the replay factor if you’re really into the design aspect.

Annoying Stuff: Aside from the occasional tirade brought on by the controls and a bad throw, I found the game to be rarely annoying. Most of the irritation comes from single-player, where you will be faced with a puzzle in the purest sense, as your ammo is limited, the towers are large, and the varieties of blocks will be quite complex. In these situations, I would often find that clearing every last block from the level was quite a challenge, because even in the largest explosion, unless you are very lucky, a few of the smallest blocks will land just on the edge of your platform, leaving you mere inches from a gold medal. If you’re like me, and you want to beat every level with a gold score before you move on, you will probably be annoyed pretty often. If you’re okay with passing with silver or bronze, you might have fewer problems.

I also encountered a few minor annoyances while playing in co-op mode, which tends to be more about pointing and shooting than it is careful planning. The targets move so quickly that I can’t imagine how people could enjoy the mode on anything smaller than our 47″ television. Even if I only focused on half the screen, most of the targets would zip right past. Maybe it’s me, but I’m not a big fan of anything resembling button-mashing.

Is It Worth It: Considering the current generation of games, a pricetag of $49.99 is on the low end of the spectrum for a new game. Still, I would really only recommend buying it if you can play with friends. Single-player is fun, but party mode is far superior in terms of replayability and general shenanigans. It’s cute to rescue the Baas, and it’s fun to play around with the editor by yourself, but most of the appeal to the game lies in any moment where you can say “Did you see that?!”

Fun Facts: Steven Spielberg is slated to make two more game titles with EA Los Angeles. I can keep hoping that one of them will feature Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, but I’m not holding my breath.

My Rating:

• 5/5 Originality
• 3/5 Storytelling
• 4/5 Technical
• 4/5 Difficulty Scaling
• 4/5 Replay Value
• 20/25 points = 80% Kickass.