Building your own shooter has never been more rewarding than this.
Apart from Tumiki Fighters, a popular web-based shooter included in this package, Blast Works gives you the opportunity to create your own full-length shooter. Using geometric shapes, you get to design your own ship, levels, bullet patterns, enemies, even full-scale bosses. The editor might take some getting used to, but like most things in life, if you mess with it a number of times and fully devote yourself in learning the ropes, you'll be creating shooters like Keebler elves baking cookies and crackers.
Whether you're playing the included games or your own creations, the Wii controls work pretty well. But if you don't want to use the Nunchuck, you can always opt for the Classic Controller if you've got it. Either way, the controls are tight and precise.
But there's one thing you'll probably want to keep in mind when you play these games. They only look like ordinary shooters, but they certainly don't play like 'em. Tumiki Fighters was a weird but brilliant concept--as you destroy enemies, you gather their pieces and attach them to your ship to act like a collapsible shield against hails of stray bullets. And there's no limit to how many you can attach to your ship. This almost takes a page from the Katamari games where you hoard stuff on your object to make it bigger and bigger.
To further sweeten the pot, you can share your ships, levels and full games over the Internet thanks to Majesco's Blast Depot website. This also works well for those who aren't into the creation thing--they can simply download shooters made by the community and play those for endless replay value. (You can even access the website through your Wii's Internet Browser.)
Overall, this is a great game for shooting enthusiasts, budding game designers and those in the inbetween. There aren't that many games like it, so let's hope there are more. Until then, give this game a chance; you won't be let down.