Boom Blox

[shmokes]

Rented this last weekend.  It's weird that this came from Steven Spielberg but, it's probably the best use of the Wii controller since Wii Sports.  Great multiplayer.  Quite a bit of variety and replay value, I think (though I only played it for about four or five hours total).  Retarded kiddie graphics and characters, but whatever.  Get this game.  It might be the best party game in existence. 

[patrickl]

I started a thread on this game about two weeks ago: Wii Boom Blox, a nice puzzle game (be it a bit childish again)

I got no response. Guess third party Wii games are never much of a topic.

[shmokes]

Oh, how funny.  I was mostly on a BYOAC leave of absence around that time for finals.  I didn't even see that thread.  That's a helluva better write-up than the one I provided here, though.

[shmokes]

Wait . . . how can there be threads with only positive things to say about the Wii in which you and I are the only participants?  I thought that was supposed to be impossible.

[Hoopz]

Wait . . . how can there be threads with only positive things to say about the Wii in which you and I are the only participants?  I thought that was supposed to be impossible.

Worlds are colliding!
 

[AtomSmasher]

Only little kids like the Wii.  This one good game doesn't change anything because the rest of them suck.

[patrickl]

I love Excite Truck too It gives me such an adrenaline rush that I have a hard time getting off the couch when I play it for a few hours. It's much faster than even Race Driver GRID.

I just wouldn't advise anyone buying a Wii (unless they really know what they are doing) since everyone I know got bored with their Wii. They tend to react in the way of " Oh, you got your kid a Wii? You should have bought mine". To be honest only my kid plays on it and my GF, who plays Kororinpa and Smooth Moves.

My kid really loves Boom Blox. I tend to only play the game when he is unable to finish a level. He only cannot play the "Jenga" type levels. He tends to knock the whole tower over in no time.

I do think the game is a bit too easy though (which explains why my 5 year old can play it). At first I had to retry a few levels to get a gold medal and there was one that I think I still have only silver on. After you get the hang of it, it does get a bit easy.

[DaveMMR]

I started a thread on this game about two weeks ago: Wii Boom Blox, a nice puzzle game (be it a bit childish again)

I got no response. Guess third party Wii games are never much of a topic.

I read it but I didn't respond because I didn't play it yet.   However I picked it up last night and only played the multi-player thus far and it was pretty fun and the Wiimote control is spot on (albeit extremely touchy with the "pull" parts - not for someone who just had three beers - though that's part of the fun).

It got excellent reviews though - Game of the Month in EGM too.  So I'd say it's worth a purchase if you like puzzlers.

[shmokes]

I don't like Excite Truck.

[ahofle]

I may pick this one up too since it's getting such good reviews around here.  I was initially turned off by gamespot's mediocre rating/review and the fact that I couldn't imagine paying $50 for a jenga game LOL.

[shmokes]

Jenga is only a portion of it.  Also, it's more like playing Jenga with one of those really long tools with the claw on the end for changing lightbulbs that are too high to reach.  Strangely, that makes it far more fun.

[DaveMMR]

I may pick this one up too since it's getting such good reviews around here.  I was initially turned off by gamespot's mediocre rating/review and the fact that I couldn't imagine paying $50 for a jenga game LOL.

If EA had purchased more advertising on Gamespot's website, Boom Blox would have gotten a much better review.   

[patrickl]

I don't like Excite Truck.

Well you have weird taste, you like that "hospital soap series game" Trauma Center 

Maybe Boom Blox could have been a bit cheaper yes. I usually play these puzzle games on my PDA (Vexed, Bejeweled, Traffic Jam) and they cost somewhere from nothing to at most 20 euro/dollar. They tend to last a lot harder too since they are way more difficult.

Still, I hope other software developers take notice and start to make better/more use of the Wiimote. Although Boom Blox is a bit slow to respond too the Wiimote now and then. In some levels I remember really waiting too long for the cursor to come back (the laser gun shooting levels and when throwing bombs)

[ahofle]

If EA had purchased more advertising on Gamespot's website, Boom Blox would have gotten a much better review.   

Hehe yeah I know, I usually take those ratings with a grain of salt.  I mostly read the review to see what negatives they had to say about the games.  I also use the user rating more than the official reviewer, and I see that Boom Blox has gone up quite a bit in the user review rating since I last looked.

[patrickl]

I thought the IGN Review of Boom Blox was pretty good.

BTW I use the nunchuk to move the camera. For some reason the game teaches you to use the B button and drag.

One more nitpick. I got the game for my kid. The box says it's in Dutch, 3+ and it seems to be aimed at children. So I assumed a 5 year old would be able to play it. Turns out that all the dialog is written. Obviously my kid cannot read. I guess 3+ simply means it doesn't contain nudity (although there are some utters showing). but still. Why say it's 3+ when even a 5 year old cannot play it on his own.

[ahofle]

I guess 3+ simply means it doesn't contain nudity (although there are some utters showing).

    

[Hoagie_one]

RE: Boom Blox, played it for an hour last night.  Liked it.

[ahofle]

I just picked this up today and I like it, as does my wife.  I am looking forward to playing this with 4 people next time we have friends over.  There is also a multi-player mode where you have a 'castle' made of blocks and the object is to destroy the other person's castle.  I imagine with 4 players this would be a lot like Warlords!  Nothing like ganging up on someone in games like that.  The physics in this game are terrific (I love pulling the bottom block in the jenga game just to see the entire tower spectacularly collapse).  I also think the sound is top notch (lots of LFE for those with subs).

For the negatives, I still think this should have been at most a $40 game personally.  Also on some of the throwing levels, once someone gets a mother load and knocks down a big section of the tower, there is pretty much no way for the other players to catch up.  Then you waste another 5-10 minutes cleaning up the remnants.  I think the game should end once the computer calculates that no one could possibly catch up.  Some of the shooting and yanking games reminded me of Wii Play, although my wife liked those.