GENRE
	Puzzle
	DEVELOPER
	EA LA
	PUBLISHER
	Electronic Arts
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

The debate now is not whether the Spielberg has anything to contribute to the videogame industry, or whether the Wii could use another minigame collection, or even whether Boom Blox is a good game. The answer to all three questions is a resounding yes. Jaded critics have been soothed by the game’s charm, but the market has not responded with as much gusto.

The overriding issue this review has to deal with is the $50 price tag of the game. The Wii sees about as much shovelware as the guy who cleans up after circus elephants. This is a problem for Boom Blox, because it looks like shovelware on the shelf and it sounds like shovelware by its premise. While this title is priced competitively with major releases for the console and undercuts most releases on competing machines by $10, it screams "BUDGET TITLE!" in many ways; not among those is cost.

visuals

Considered yourself warned: The graphics are blocky. This game has more jaggies than a PS2 release. The good news is that it is an intentional stylistic choice. No special lighting or particle effects, but just a colorful and clean presentation. The characters and blocks move and react as you would expect them to, given their weight and position. The player has complete control of the camera for the majority of levels, during which the backgrounds and environments never get in the way.

The puzzles can become complex to grasp, not just solve, because of the variety of blocks, but the sharp presentation and simple instructions make every challenge worth considering. There are throwaway stories told through storyboard and text in the Adventure Mode. There’s little to see or experience, and thankfully, being able to skip the narrative keeps it from being an even slight nuisance.

audio

The music in the game is entirely MIDI and is standard fare for puzzle games. If the music in a minigame collection draws a lot of your attention, it is probably an indictment against it. There’s nothing memorable, but that’s a good thing. The music varies enough to reflect the perfunctory changes in the setting and theme of various puzzles. The sound designers and musicians played it safe, and they give us nothing to praise to, but nothing to censure.

The sound effects follow the same philosophy. The different cheers and cries and the occasional "Ooh!" or "Aah!" add no depth to the characters, but serve the fundamental need of being present. It is very much the kind of situation where their absence would hurt the experience, but their inclusion hardly seems noteworthy. The explosions, bounces, boops and bleeps are satisfying, but nothing more. The Wiimote speaker is used to appropriate effect. There is reasonable variety to the sounds coming from the player’s hand depending on the situation, which type of ball is being tossed, which type of block is hit and what the result is.

gameplay

Two factors comprise the heart and soul of Boom Blox; it’s simple, intuitive controls and the thorough and honest physics engine. The Wii’s strength as a pointing device allows players to pick and choose their spots with surgical precision, and the accelerometer picks up the strength behind each toss based on the force with which the Wiimote is thrust. Every ball or canon the player controls and every block impacted by every turn reacts exactly as one would expect. The laws regarding the center of gravity and movement of each individual block ensures that no two throws have the exact same results.

There’s a quick, painless and demonstrably helpful tutorial and piecemeal introduction to the variety of challenges the game can pose. Players quickly learn there are three ways to measure success on any given level: Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals. Bronze is required to progress to the next level. Silver and Gold are required to reveal unlockable modes and bonus content. Gold contributes to more ego-boosting than it does to unlocking new items and challenges, however.

Some levels are very much like Jenga. Others demand the opposing skill of knocking down a tower with as few throws as possible. Some require the placement of a stick of dynamite to blow up a sequence of bomb blocks. Others play like sharp-shooting parlor games. Some require the player to manipulate the environment and allow a blocky mother to reach her blocky young ones. Others demand defensive measures to save sitting cows, while still others demand defensive measures to save lemming-like cats. Notably, Boom Blox also features a hefty level editor and creator for creating custom areas.

Suffice to say, there’s no shortage of variety in goals and types of blocks. There are occasions where the lack of a final coat of polish shows. The games that require the players to point and shoot targets as they slide back and forth on conveyor belts has an annoying lag on the trigger press. It a frustrating thing allow because it makes securing a Gold Medal on that challenge virtually impossible. Another game puts the player in control of a water canon with the aim knocking blocks resting on tenuous perches. The player controls the water-shooting mechanism simply, but the difficulty arises in calibrating the camera from behind the canon to set the aim. The slightest adjustment sometimes causes the water stream to fly in a completely errant direction, while a large adjustment occasionally has the opposite effect. A few rounds make it patent the game is not intended to work like this, and is suffering from poor play testing.

Despite all the angles and mechanics exploited by the design team, there are some shortcomings in realizing the potential of the gameplay. One such vacuum rests on constant pull of gravity in every level. Perhaps the missing backdrop is deep space. It would have been interesting if some puzzles forced the player to react to gravitational pulls stronger or weaker than those on earth. Another example of parochial design is the complete lack of a wind factor in all the puzzles. Some of the collections would doubtless have developed a greater sense of depth and demanded more thought by the players if they forced every throw to compensate for a certain amount of wind in a certain direction. What’s there is very good, but the designers stopped short of reaching the project’s natural progression.

multiplayer

A crippling blow to Boom Blox is its failure to feature any online play. The majority of the game’s multiplayer modes are turn-based and allow Wiimote sharing, where multiple players can pass around a single Wiimote. The lack of a need for dynamic and razor-sharp reflexes only lends itself more to online quick, simple, uncompromised online play. There’s no reason to handicap a game like this if not to hold features back for a sequel. The game allows friends to share levels and puzzles they’ve created, but the publisher (Electronic Arts) has not cultivated the following with DLC. Honestly, both single and multiplayer stood to benefit from a ‘level of the day’ scenario at the least, but no such support came.

You can send a level to a friend, but you have to physically drive to his house to play it with him. Why not leave it to the player to move levels to a friend’s house by copying them to SD card? What has made it to local multiplayer is a lot of fun. Boom Blox is a great game for parties as a result, seeing as how it is among the most accessible games ever designed.

There are dozens of multiplayer games divided in to four major categories: Throw, Grab, Blast and Attack. Hours can disappear just going from game to game and seeing the strategy and skill each requires. As always, the enjoyment increases exponentially as the number of players rises. The Jenga-equivalent is as strategic and entertaining as ever -– without the annoying task of actually erecting the block set. But there are also half a dozen remixes to the old family classic that are bound to appear just as attractive to the veterans.

overall

Breaking towers of blocks provided endless amusement to every child, and the feeling of engaging Boom Blox as someone who feels herself matured past that is humbling. If you can get some friends involved, there is a lot to enjoy.

Better than Mario Party 8. For its multiplayer, it’s better than WarioWare: Smooth Moves. EA is sitting on a gold mine of potential. The directions a sequel must expand in are obvious in some ways. There’s no shortage of content in Boom Blox, and there’s a lot more in it than many other games that get released. But there’s an unshakeable feeling EA decided to take its foot off the gas at some point in development, or we would have seen some form of DLC. The question is: How does one score a game that did so much to shatter low expectations at the outset and then failed to live up to them towards the end?

We return then to the $50 question. It’s not the deal of the century, and it’s not a steal, but it is standard market price for what you get. If it makes you feel better, wait until you can find it for $40.

It’s definitely worth playing. It’s a gem in the Wii library. It’s better than you think it is.

8.0/10