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| GENRE |
| Puzzle |
| DEVELOPER |
| Team 17 |
| PUBLISHER |
| Ubi Soft |
| NUMBER OF PLAYERS |
| 1-2 |
| CONNECTIVITY |
| no |
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Worms Blast
The Worms franchise didn’t take long to become a cult classic. But unlike most underground hits, the PC games (and later Worms Armageddon for the consoles of the day) were also popular with casual players. In 1996, at the time Worms 2 was released, the industry was making the almost pubescent transition into 3D. New 2D games, even if they were relatively groundbreaking, had an instant taboo (of cootie proportions) to overcome. Worms 2 cleared the hurdle set by the likes of Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot and was wildly successful not because of its depth or story line, but because of the quality of gameplay to be found—especially its multiplayer. Worms Blast shamelessly rides the coattails of previous successes from Team 17, but it still manages to be a halfway decent spin-off.
visuals
The game has a very unique style about it. Using some cel-shading and simple, colorful environments, the game has a look that closely matches the sprite-based Worms we all know and love. The game isn’t about to win any technical or artistic excellence awards, but the graphics get the job done by telling you what’s going on in the game and also adding to the game’s fun factor. Not amazing, not bad, just enough graphical voodoo to base a decent game around. As it turns out, the upcoming Worms 3 will be using a different technology (that blends polygons with depth-creating voxels, which the creator has thoughtfully named “poxels”).
audio
The only audio Worms fans probably care about is the taunts and cries of pain made by the game’s heroes. Unfortunately, the game comes up a bit short in this area (but the bar was raised high by customizable taunt packages in previous titles). However, fans will find joy in the pain wrought when they launch a bazooka upon their own heads, if only because the sound makes it worthwhile.
gameplay
The game is a twist on the tired Bust-A-Move or Snood puzzle franchises, which launched from the even more ancient Bubble Bobble titles for the NES. However, rather than just shooting colored balls at other colored balls and hoping to make a match, the game offers several different weapons to shoot at the rocks above. After each shot, your weapon is loaded with a different color of paint. If you can shoot the colored rocks ahead with the same color of ammunition, they will clear and fall to the ground as fresh fruit. If you nail rocks of the wrong color, you splatter paint on whatever you just hit, which could be used very strategically or be a strong disappointment. With several weapons to use (each with their own distinct advantages) and tons of power-ups available, the game stays varied and interesting. It also offers a good deal more strategy than most puzzle games you’ll find. Kudos to the developer for being able to pull off a genre transition for the Worms license without taking away the gameplay elements that made it fun to begin with. Production value is average. You won’t find a ton of options or menus. You also won’t find the depth of weaponry or gameplay that is to be had in traditional Worms titles. All of that said, it’s still a pretty solid puzzler, even if the single player is a bit lacking.
multiplayer
The heart of Worms Blast, or at least what will make you come back to it more than once, is playing against friends. The two-player multiplayer features are pretty well fleshed out. It’s only a good time if both players are fans of both Worms and puzzle titles, however, since the learning curve is a little steep for folks who are only familiar with one or none at all. Still, the game offers a full and well-rounded multiplayer mode that is undeniably fun.
overall
GameCube hasn’t really received a decent puzzler until this one, which instantly gives the game major points. But the lack of depth is rather disconcerting when there are so many bigger games out there carrying the same price tag. But if you’ve ever lost sleep wondering what it would be like taking a strategic earthworm warfare title and transferring it to the same category Tetris falls under, then Worms Blast is for you. I recommend renting before purchasing to see if the game loses its charm after a week or whether it warrants a forty-dollar purchase.
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