Nintendo Wii - Boom Blox Review

I can't say enough good things about this game. It single handedly brought my Wii out of retirement and in many ways defines what a Wii game should be.

The Games

At its most basic level, there are three basic play modes. The first is a game where you throw things (tennis balls, bowling balls, and sometimes bombs) at blocks in an attempt to knock them over in as few throws as possible. This mode plays like a puzzle game, trying to find the weak spot or the chain reaction that will work the best. You use the Wiimote to aim, and then make a throwing motion to determine how hard to throw the ball.

The second is a "Jenga" like game where you grab blocks and attempt to pull them from a tower of blocks without upsetting the whole stack. You use the Wiimote to "grab" a block and move your hand/arm to slide it out. Its very sensitive to the motion, so you have to be very careful and very precise.

The third is a shooter style, where the blocks are sliding or thrown across the screen and you use the Wiimote like a gun to shoot them before they hit the ground.

The Details
The variations are seemingly endless. In some games there are special blocks including bombs, chemical blocks that explode when "matched", and vanishing blocks. In some games there are special items to be thrown, like bombs, or rubber balls that bounce. In some games there is no throwing, but rather a fire hose to push blocks around. And some games have special goals: get the point blocks without upsetting the penalty blocks, or see how many pieces you can remove from the stack without knocking over the baby cows standing on top (yes, I said baby cows.) Some games have timers, some have point targets, and some have a limited number of throws/pulls available.

The use of the Wiimote is perfect. The best I've seen, including Wii Sports. It makes so much sense, especially in the Jenga-like grab and pull games. The physics are good enough that you quickly get a sense for what will work and what won't.

Multiplayer
This is where the game gets truly fun and innovative. Multiplayer mode can be either cooperative where the team has to work together to get a "passing" score, or competitive. I've played this game in both modes for about 2 hours each and have yet to see the same game twice. Competitive jenga is a blast, but there are other unexpected games: a shuffle board like game where the players throw balls to slide bricks into scoring positions, or a game where players try to destroy each other's castles made of scoring blocks. I am constantly surprised by this game and all the different variations they have created.

The Summary
Best. Wii game. Ever. I can easily see myself playing this in puzzle mode for weeks, and it my new "party game" of choice. I have yet to use the level creator, but when I do I'll do an update.