Now that’s one explosive sequel…
The first Boom Blox game was a great, yet unappreciated game from EA and Steven Spielberg. It sadly failed to reach decent sales numbers, despite favourable reviews. Can the sequel do enough to change this? Well, hopefully it can. Boom Blox Bash Party improves upon the original in every way and it is definitely a must-have title for Wii owners.
The gameplay of this sequel doesn’t differ that much from the original. You still throw balls at blocks to make them fall down, but now there are more variations of this such as throwing paint balls at a grid to make shapes match so they vanish and demolishing items to reach the gems inside. There are other things to do as well including designing your own puzzles and sharing them online. You can even download other friends’ levels to your game, which gives the game as much replay value as possible.
There are also certain targets to reach during levels; some will even earn you achievements that pop up on screen. Yes, I did say achievements…but they only work in-game, so you can’t share them online like those on other platforms, it’s a shame and made me think that Nintendo really needs something like that on their systems too, but that’s a thought for another day. There are over 400 levels to complete and medals to earn depending on how well you do.
You can also play the game as a co-op experience as well as a Versus mode that lets you take on 3 friends in 20+ different games as well as a Team Play mode. It’s all good stuff…if you have another people and controllers, that is. Boom Blox Bash Party seems to be a much larger game than its predecessor, and it is a blast to play. Just seeing blocks flying everything is satisfying and with multiplayer and download options, the possibilities seem endless. Simply put, if you enjoyed the original then you will love the sequel.
The addition of characters is ok, but hardly groundbreaking. Perhaps that’s what holds the game back; it feels more of the same instead of a giant leap forward. It’s not a huge complaint since I loved the original, but I can imagine that being a reason why some might not pick this up. In terms of presentation, the game may not look the greatest, but it does have a great style to it that works really well. Music is catchy in parts, but you’ll be more focused on the task at hand.
The Verdict
Boom Blox Bash Party surpasses the original with more levels, more options and endless replay value in the form of being able to create and download levels. Any puzzle fan with a Wii should not be without this game any longer, go and grab it already!
