Pop

Wiiware (700 Wii Points)- Developed by:  Nooooooo!

Puzzle- Rated E for Everyone (ESRB)

Review By Trist

A debut Wiiware title, does it have what it takes to be worth its weight in gold?

Pop is definitely one of my favorite games of late as it is madly addictive. Who knew that popping bubbles could turn into hours upon hours of madness?

Pop is a simple game that revolves around players pointing their Wii cursor at the screen and pressing the A or B button in an attempt to pop as many bubbles as possible. The player can tackle through several modes of gameplay (Normal, Advanced, Chill, and multiplayer versions of these modes), and compete for their mark on the Worldwide Leadership Boards.

Pop is a simple game to grasp and will truly be enjoyable to people of all ages. Although it is simple, there are several complex elements within. The first is the bubble chaining system in which the player can choose to pop bubbles of the same color in order to score a multiplayer and gain tons of points. There are power-ups as well that can affect the gameplay. Power-ups can affect the time that is required to survive. The takes place through a series of waves. Each wave usually will feature a different color of bubbles, background, music, speed, and direction of bubbles. Players lose when the clock reaches 0 or a negative number (for example if the timer is low and there is a chain of “nukes” and “skulls” then the skulls will continue to deduct time and even go to negative time, which is weird).

The game is surprising in that there can be some element of strategy involved. One can aim to score megapoints by chaining and only going for small bubbles, one can only focus on the power-ups to increase time and ignore chaining, one can even just focus on learning what color of bubble appears more in each wave and be prepared to make the best.

Multiplayer is the same too as the single player. The only difference is that there are additional power-ups, and each player shares the same clock, while each player tries to gain the most points from their individual score.

Beyond the gameplay, there is also a sort of Xbox-Live’ish achievement system in which you get a “Badge” for completing some qualification. These badge, displayed on the main profile page, work well in adding to the suspense and fun that the game delivers.

The online connectivity utilizes both the Wii Connect 24 and the Wii Internet Connection. The connection updates the Worldwide Standings and, if the player chooses to, to send player progress to anyone they have a Wii number on. No friend code system abounds in this, spare the one that is native to the players address book.

The music is perhaps one of the aspects of the game that sticks out in my mind. The music that plays in the pause menu is bound to get people on the floor and dancing. The varying music that plays throughout the waves and bonus levels is interesting and keeps me hooked. The sound studio must receive a commendation on their choice of song.

Ultimately, for what Pop sets out to do, it does it well. There is really nothing else to be asked for in this title (apart from maybe a decrease in the difficulty with the normal mode at Wave 13!!!). I love it and suggest it to all people.

• Presentation - 9.0
  • Simple, smooth interface, with the thrill of bubbles. It is sure to appeal to all generations.
• Graphics - 9.0
  • Colors, colors, colors, abound in the title. Bubbles appear in all sizes and move at varying speeds. Simple yet impressive.
• Sound -9.0
  • Pause Menu music is perhaps the hottest track in the title. The sound team must be applauded for their efforts throughout each wave. Wii remote speaker is used amazingly well.
• Gameplay -8.0
  • Quite fun and addictive. Though it may not hold everyones attention that much, but it sets out to be a simple pick up and play title and works marvelously well.
• Replay Value - 8.0
  • It is something that would bring players back and back again each day in an attempt to score higher. It is definitely something to do to take a break from other games and the business of life. Overall - 8.0
    • It seeks out to surprise us with its simple and addictive gameplay, though it fails to offer us much incentive to come back to play for extended sittings.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 9:40 am and is filed under News by Trist, WiiWare, Reviews, Wii. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.