Blox party

by ERIK LEIJON

Question: have you seen the latest Indiana Jones flick? I’ll avoid spoiling the story behind the latest Spielberg-Lucas-Ford vehicle, but it should come as no surprise that the primary goal of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is to conjure warm feelings of nostalgia.

Steven Spielberg’s other summer blockbuster takes the famous Hollywood term literally—Boom Blox (Wii/EA, EA Los Angeles) is the film director’s first foray into video gaming (besides an embarrassing photo op for the infamous E.T. Atari game) and it rewards players for building up block structures and taking them down. It’s also Spielberg at his creative best, as opposed to the tired retread currently on the big screen.

Attaching the Spielberg name to a video game may be misconstrued as a gimmick, but whatever his overall involvement beyond the conceptual phase may have been, the game is a smashing good time. Each level features some sort of block structure comprised of various kinds of explosive blocks, blocks that disappear, and even ones with fireworks attached.

SMASHING GOOD TIME: Boom Blox

Using the Wii remote, players must carefully aim and throw balls (of which there are many varieties) at the block towers, using as few throws as possible to knock the buildings over. The game plays in full 3D, allowing the player to rotate around the constructions in an effort to find the best way to take them down.

Where the game never ceases to amaze is the incredibly realistic physics engine. Some levels resemble a digital version of Jenga, where the mission is to pull as many pieces from the bottom as possible, without toppling the whole tower. The blocks teeter and move ever so slightly out of place when you move an adjacent piece, causing some breathless moments as you pray for a steady hand—or that a gust of wind doesn’t send your castle tumbling.

Other missions involve causing massive chain reactions as you nudge chemical explosive blocks together with a well-placed throw. Nearly every one of Boom Blox’s 300+ levels introduces a new way to manipulate the blocks, and many of the stages offer multiple solutions—including some ingenious methods requiring a vivid imagination.

If Boom Blox’s missions ever cease to test your brain or wrist strength, there’s an effectively simple level creation mode and the ability to share your wacky designs with friends online. There’s something very satisfying about creating a huge block castle for the sole purpose of blowing it up later.

After snoozing through his latest film, it’s encouraging to see Spielberg’s creative juices flowing through this highly original game. One can hope for an HD version for the other major consoles sometime soon, since the Wii’s limited colour palette and the presence of jagged edges detract from the overall presentation.

You vs. the world

Square Enix’s latest role-playing game, The World Ends With You (DS/Square Enix) is a completely wacky experience that could only be experienced on the Nintendo DS. With a modern-day storyline taking place in an alternate Shibuya, Japan, a spikey-haired hero must engage in dual-screened warfare in the RPG gaming equivalent of urban tag.

Your character fights on the bottom screen, while your partner (who you control as well) fights on top. Every battle is a visual jumble of colourful magic, cartoonish enemies and lightning quick action. The action is extremely fast, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t follow what’s happening at first.

The only minor caveats holding back Square’s latest are the obvious visual comparisons to Jet Grind Radio and the lengthy dialogue, which often exceeds 100 individual speech bubbles per conversation.