Boom Blox: Bash Party

Boom Blox: Bash Party

Given Steven Spielberg’s high-profile endorsement you’d think that Boom Blox: Bash Party might be a better looking game. Sadly, no, the visuals are bland even by the Wii’s often low standards. However, to paraphrase an old adage, duff graphics doth not necessarily indicate a duff game. Happily that appears to hold true in this instance too – providing you take it in small doses, that is...

Boom Blox: Bash Party is a simple game, but what it does, it does very well indeed, thanks to realistic physics and intuitive gameplay mechanics that only an idiot would fail to grasp. This sequel chooses not to mess around with an already successful formula too much either. Wisely so, in our opinion.

A quick gameplay précis, then. In Boom Blox players use the Wii Remote to aim and throw an assortment of projectiles at a selection of objects, the idea being to dislodge the point-scoring gem Blox from an array of useful or non-essential pieces. Chucking things at stuff: that’s it in a nutshell, although the game succeeds in making this basic premise as diverse and challenging as possible.

So what’s new for this sequel? The graphics for starters – they’re supposedly improved from the original, although we’re struggling to appreciate it. The size of the game has been increased too. There are now more than 400 tricky puzzles to solve, each earning players a bronze, silver or gold rating when successfully completed. The latter alone does much to drive the Bash Party’s devilish just-one-more-go factor. Furthermore players are able to create their own challenges with a neat level editor, or download extra ones from publishers EA via the Wii’s onboard Wi-Fi.

Then there are new Blox and innovative ways to destroy them. Paintballs make an early appearance, changing the colour of the Blox that they hit – three or more adjacent Blox of the same colour disappear etc. The Slingshot is fun too. Players stretch an elastic line from the object they’re trying to move, pull back with the Wiimote and let go, spanging it in the desired direction. Meanwhile the Virus Ball causes a vanishing infection among the Blox it hits, which is very cool.

Environment-wise Bash Party heralds the introduction of Space, where Blox drift in zero-gravity and, in the Pirate section, water, where the Blox float upwards when released from the pile. Otherwise players will find many of the tools and themes that made the original game such a hoot making a welcome return – all encapsulated in a virtual theme park setting. And all that, complete with a fun level editor, downloadable extras and co-operative/competitive modes for up to four, rounds off a nicely tidy package.

Now for the downsides. Admittedly there are just a couple. First off we found ourselves frustrated that the throwing mechanism employed throughout was occasionally hit and miss – literally, when equal amounts of wrist-flick did not always seem to result in the same shot power. Secondly the time soon arrives when you find yourself, well, rather bored of doing the same thing, albeit by various means. An hour of concentrated gameplay is usually more than enough in solo play, but the multiplayer modes should extend the fun.

Keep the doses measured, though, and Bash Party is a blast that positively encourages frequent revisits, if only to see if it’s possible to get a gold rating on a particular puzzle instead of that lowly bronze. With its one-handed anyone-can-play mechanics it’s almost perfect Wii fodder too. Moreover it’s a decent puzzle game on a console that could do certainly do with a few more of ‘em. Recommended, but nicer visuals for the next outing, please Mr Spielberg...

4 out of 5