An average presentation doesn't hold back the fun gameplay and multiplayer.
- Fun and enjoyable puzzles with a ton of replay value
- Multiplayer is a blast
- Different puzzles add variety
Negative
- The characters look awful
- Graphics and sound are average
This puzzles game is simple on the eyes and easy to play, but Boom Blox is still original and entertaining for everyone. At first glance it looks for kids, but the large amount of puzzles to play, great multiplayer and the ton of replay value make it worth for every Wii owner. There are some drawbacks some as the average visuals and sound, repetition and disappointing story and blocky characters, but in the end anyone with love for puzzles will come around for this.
One of the best things in Boom Blox is that it doesn't lack variety of puzzles. There is a wealthy variety of different puzzles to play, plus the create mode lets you create your own level; this way the amount of replay value virtually skyrockets. But besides the difference of puzzles, Boom Blox has different modes as well, for both single player and multiplayer. The creation tool allows you to create your own levels with the available boxes and lets you mess around. It's fun and really makes the game replay able.
The single player only modes offer training mode, an explore mode and an adventure mode. The training mode will get you used to mostly all of the different puzzles the game has to offer. There are also levels within each one and getting a medal from bronze to gold will make you advance further. The condition changes with each puzzle. After completing the training mode, you should be ready for the explore mode and the adventure modes. The explore mode offers 6 different kinds of puzzles available in the game and is practically the bets mode for single player.
The first box is the gem box where the main objective of this mode is to knock all the blue. It seems simple, but every puzzle may require some thought to knock all of them at once, or with two tries to get the golden medal. Each of these puzzles is different, and always fun and never frustrating. Normally you have to throw a box to try and knock the other boxes. The point box is normally less fun than the first box, where in this mode you have to hit the boxes, sometimes by throwing balls and later with lasers. The bomb box will have you blowing special boxes to make an explosion to throw off the blue boxes. In the vanish box, this special box will disappear when hit, making everything fall on it. Chemical boxes explode in contact with other chemical boxes making a reaction that affects a short distance but it blocks normal shots. The grabbing mode is by far the best in the game, where you need to use the Wii Remote to remote to remove the wooden piece, but without making the tower fall. Each of these has numerous different puzzles in them, all of the same kind of course. Meaning the gem box has several puzzles related to it and you keep unlocking them by earning a medal in each. The adventure mode offers a higher level of challenge, and has some unlockables such as unlockable characters to use in the create mode. In this mode there is a large variety of different puzzles spanned over 4 chapters with multiple levels in it. This mode is severally different from the others, since you will be helping animals or attack other animals. One such is that you need to protect a fortress from animals by shooting them.
The multiplayer is a blast. There may not be as much as the single-player mode, but almost all of the events are fun to play. Here, there is also a difference in modes including competitive multiplayer and cooperative. Competitive lets you play modes like grab, throw, blast and attack. You'll compete against your friends, from 2 to 4 in a series of events and the one with most points at the end wins. Cooperative modes team you with the other person and try to get most points. Quick sample is a simple random mode with different events.
The great amount of varied modes would be wasted if the gameplay would have been poor. The gameplay is fun, original but it does get repetitive especially if playing alone. The controls are just about fine and work great. The only issue may be when throwing balls. You need to aim and them swing the Wii Remote forward to throw, and not always you'll get a strong shot so it may take a few minutes to get used to it. The grabbing events may require some patience since the slight wrong movement can make the tower fall. It's all realistic. You should know that there are different colored boxes. Blue boxes are most common, purple boxes are vanish boxes, green chemical, those with a bomb on them are bombs and so on. The camera is fine, but it might give some awkward positions, and can't exactly zoom in.
When it comes to presentation Boom Blox is average. Graphically looks like a decent looking PS2 game with just good looking boxes and merely decent environments to back it up. There are some blocky, ugly looking animals in the background of each level. In the adventure mode you'll be seeing a lot of them. It is quite disappointing since there is so much focus on making the game fun that the character models didn't receive much detail. The sound is even less impressive. Forget any voices, the music isn't anything special. The sound effects aren't that great either.
Forget the presentation, Boom Blox is a blast. The multiplayer makes playing with a friend a lot more enjoyable that playing alone, but playing alone is also fun nonetheless. A ton of replay value to add to that, with the creation tool that lets you make your own levels with ease. Also each puzzles has a different objective, making them all varied. In the end Boom Blox is a fun puzzle game with a few drawbacks, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a place in your Wii library.
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Graphics = 7.1
There is nothing special and doesn't push the console. The environments and puzzles are acceptable, the characters are not.
Sound = 7.0
Nothing special here either with no voice acting, average sound effects and music
Presentation = 7.2
Still not impressive, with just decent menus. The puzzles are all different. The loadings are fast. Production values are ok.
Gameplay = 8.2
A lot of different puzzles which will keep you for quite a while. Fun puzzles, multiplayer and Wii controls. Always fun to play with a friend.
Replay value = 9.0
Plenty of great puzzles and challenges, plus a great multiplayer, and then there is the level creator. What more could you possibly want?
OVERALL = 77 / 100
An average presentation doesn't hold back the fun gameplay and multiplayer.