1 / 13

Boom Blox: an Action-Packed Block-Busting Extravaganza for Nintendo Wii

Dive into the wild and action-packed world of Boom Blox, a physics-based game where you stack, knock over, and blow up blocks to solve puzzles and embark on an adventurous journey. With various modes of play, multiplayer options, and high production value, this game offers a blend of creativity and challenge. Interact with different blocks using tools controlled by the Wii remote, and aim for medals by completing levels efficiently. Explore, create, and enjoy the clean and visually appealing cartoon-y graphics, accompanied by engaging music and sound. Unlock new content as you progress and share your own levels with others in the multiplayer mode. While some aspects like control precision and repetitive levels may pose challenges, the overall experience of Boom Blox delivers fun and entertainment suitable for all ages.

giles
Download Presentation

Boom Blox: an Action-Packed Block-Busting Extravaganza for Nintendo Wii

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CIS 587 Game Review Fall 2008 Michael Quist

  2. BOOM BLOX • Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg • Exclusively for Nintendo Wii • “Wild and action-packed block-busting extravaganza” • 50/50 puzzle and action minigame aspects • Priced at $49.99

  3. Overview (1) • Physics-based game in which player stacks / knocks over / blows up blocks • Several basic modes of play • Explore -- puzzles • Adventure -- story mode • Create -- level editor • Multiplayer -- cooperative and competitive • High production value • Music and sound • Clean cartoon-y visuals, with animated clip scenes advancing the adventure mode • Well-written manual • No apparent bugs

  4. Overview (2) • Within each level, player interacts with blocks with a specific tool, controlled using Nintendo Wii motion-sensing remote • Throwing baseballs, cannonballs, bombs • Spraying with hoses, shooting with guns • Pushing and pulling with “grab” tool • Variety of block types • Exploding bomb blocks • Chemical blocks that explode when they hit other chemical blocks • Vanish blocks that disappear when struck • … etc.

  5. Overview (3) • Level-based gameplay • Player awarded medals for completing levels in few enough throws / losing few enough lives / fast enough • Criteria given before each level determine whether medal is bronze, silver, or gold • Finishing levels and collecting medals unlocks new content (characters, tools, levels)

  6. Screenshot (1) Player goal: protect sheep from monkeys Vanish blocks Chemical blocks Bomb blocks

  7. Screenshot (2) Player goal: clear path from gorilla to babies

  8. Screenshot (3) Player goal: remove point blocks without dropping penalty blocks Point blocks Penalty blocks

  9. Other play modes • Multiplayer • Compete or cooperate… mostly turn-based, with players alternating attacks on one another or manipulations of a puzzle • Create • Full-featured level builder, with ability to share created levels with others over the internet • Content unlocked in single-player mode available for use in Create mode

  10. Game Review • What is fun • Block physics are excellent; many puzzle levels are challenging and have interesting / clever solutions • Interface (Wii remote) works well for throwing balls, grabbing blocks, and rotating camera angles • Blowing things up • Creating new levels

  11. Game Review • What is not fun • Some levels reduce to trial and error or just throwing hard, leading to “Wii elbow” • Wii-mote control not precise enough for delicate movements; can be frustrating • Multiplayer is slow-paced • Story is “laughably stupid,” according to at least one reviewer… more charitably, is intended for a young audience • Can only use one tool per level… seems as if combined throw/shoot/grab levels would allow much greater diversity

  12. Game Review • Genre comparison • Puzzle/minigame genre includes WarioWare, Mario Party, Zack & Wiki • Boom Blox is much better single-player game than Mario Party, much weaker multiplayer • More solid production than WarioWare, but less diverse, and humor aimed at younger audience • Story purely decorative, and puzzles all of the same type, unlike Zack & Wiki

  13. Summary • Fun and cute puzzle game, making good use of Wii’s capabilities, and with characters and visuals that will appeal to children • However, levels are too similar, and tacked-on story does little to distinguish different sections of single-player quest • Could be improved by introducing more advanced tools (firehose, etc.) earlier in quest and by replacing “throw and throw some more” levels with levels requiring more than one tool • Worth purchasing at $30 or $40, but $50 is high price point for puzzle game

More Related