Boom Blox Bash Party

Boom Blox Bash Party delivers like its predecessor on a simple premise: people like knocking things over.  But can it stack up with the first game?

Boom Blox made a name for itself last year as a surprise hit. Being the first game that acclaimed director/producer Steven Spielberg collaborated on with EA in an exclusive deal, no one knew the impact it would have, selling nearly a million copies to date.  A year later, and now we have Boom Blox Bash Party for Wii. Many are curious of whether the game adds enough to justify the $40 retail price compared to the original. After all, it certainly looks the same, and it plays the same overall.  Trust us, it's better.

Boom Blox Bash Party is based on a simple principle: dismantle and destroy towers of multi-colored and multi-shaped blocks. The puzzle game presents different levels to players, and different tools to accomplish the task at hand, from baseballs, to slingshots, to lasers. Some levels allow for an infinite amount of shots, challenging players to get the highest score possible, while others force players to destroy massive towers in as few shots as possible.

We long for the day when Super Pig gets a spin-off game of his own.

Different blocks hold different roles. As certain blocks hit the ground, they disintegrate, and may impact your score or the blocks around them. Chemical and bomb blocks explode the area, likely taking others with them. Gem blocks add to your gem total, while score blocks add to your score total (based on the type of level being played). Add in multiplier zone blocks, vanish blocks, newly-added virus blocks and more, and you'll see that this simple game gets increasingly complex. Plus, cute animal and creature blocks infest the levels, often providing endless fun by just knocking them around.

Single player mode isn't necessarily for the faint-of-heart, either. Boom Blox Bash Party offers a fairly deep achievement system for the more obsessive types. Each level has a bronze, silver, or gold medal achievement level possible, with gold being the toughest to accomplish (usually getting nearly all the points in the level or destroying it in one or two shots). At times, you are "gifted" new items to use in various modes. Along the way, players rake in the "Boom Bux" for use in the level editor mode to unlock bonus tools to build your level, or unlock more levels in the game.

Which brings up the entire selling point of the game: the level editor. Boom Blox had a decent idea of bringing in a level editor to keep the game in your console. Boom Blox Bash Party cleans up the level editor interface, and provides essentially every tool available to create some astounding puzzles.

Adding to that, EA provides downloadable content for players, promising upwards of 400 levels made by the development team, at no additional cost to you. Still not enough? Any levels created by players can be shared with friends and uploaded to EA's servers and be accessed by any other gamer, providing countless hours of entertainment. Tag on the simple level rating system, and this is the farthest I've seen $40 go in a long time.

Intuitive controls. Anyone can get a feel for the game in minutes, and added Nunchuk support helps keep the camera under control at times.

Great party game. There's a vast amount of modes to enjoy, with different options blanketed by enjoyable co-op and versus multiplayer modes.

Level editor is superb. Players are given access to so many tools within the level editors, the same used by the developers making the 400+ levels, that few things are out of creative reach.

Super-high replay value. With an achievement system, "Boom Bux," and plenty of unlockable level editing tools, this doesn't get boring for a long time.

Downloadable levels are categorized. A rating system for created content along with a decent set of options and the ability to search for keywords helps sort user-made levels.

Online play is seamless. You can get a taste of levels prior to saving them to the Wii's internal memory, and loading them only takes seconds.

An old dog gets new tricks. New physics and gravity mechanics, destructive toys, and added blocks provide a fresh taste for an old formula.

Adorable aesthetic. The block creatures wandering the levels let off amusing grunts, adding to the charm of the bright colors.

IR can be touchy. Just when the you are accustomed to the controls, the swing-and-release motion control throw won't register, and stagger the experience.

Painful. The strength of your throw affects the block-breaking puzzles.  Many will find arm pain imminent after a half hour of play or so.

Still no online multiplayer. Busting blocks against other players from around the world should be commonplace by now.

Stuck inside a box. The camera often gets stuck in a position that isn't desirable for the player to solve a puzzle.

Some editor features are missing. Certain missing tools like camera control, glass blocks, one-way blocks and others are a missed opportunity.

The slingshot is snapped. This single toy's finicky flaws is a perfect example of how IR doesn't always work.

While Boom Blox Bash Party offers a near endless amount of simple, destructive fun, the controls break the game on occasion.  EA appears to have used the Wii Remote to the fullest they could, yet prove that they haven't found the best solution for the type of gameplay this game demands.  Noting the missing online multiplayer, advancements in motion control, and other potential features, we're sure to see another game in the series down the road.  Considering the insane replay value at $40, you're likely still going to be playing this game until then.