Boom Blox: Bash Party GDC '09 hands-on

The best multiplayer Wii game gets even better with Boom Blox 2. Read on for our full GDC 2009 hands-on impressions of this action-puzzle game.

More Nintendo at GDC 2009:

NEWS: Nintendo's GDC 2009 announcements here

GameGirl: New Legend Of Zelda Announced: Spirit Tracks

GDC 2009 PREVIEW: Spectrobes: Origins

RUMOR: OMG Nintendo: DSi Virtual Console will have Game Boy and GBA

NEWS: Punch-Out leak: Multiplayer mode and another classic boxer revealed

Boom Blox: Bash Party GDC '09 hands-on

Love Puzzle Quest and Bejewled? Then you'll love Boom Blox 2's take on the 'match 3 colors' gameplay in the new Color Combos mode.

I was quite the fan of the original Boom Blox; so much so, in fact, that I very nearly bought a Wii simply to play it alone. So getting an early chance for hands-on play with Boom Blox: Bash Party was an exciting experience for me to see what has improved since the first game.

The answer is: a lot. Rather than condense all of my notes on Boom Blox: Bash Party into an eloquent, long-winded essay (believe me, I've got the long-winded angle down), I've decided to cut-and-paste my extensive notes below. This suites a game like Boom Blox: Bash Party well; though it's massively improved over the first Boom Blox, it's still a simple, fun, party game that's seen a huge number of additions and improvements.

Without further ado, here's everything you need to know about Boom Blox: Bash Party. Excuse my atrocious syntax!



Boom Blox Bash Party notes

-EA reps told me that project collaborator Steven Spielberg is very happy with the game, and the development team was thrilled with the project and wanted to start immediately on the sequel.

-Twice as much multiplayer, but even more single player content, too. There will be 450 levels (compared to 350-370 in the original game).

-Hugely enhanced custom level options in the Create mode, plus online trading that bypasses the much-hated Friend Codes. If you go to a certain puzzle type that you like (such as the addictive Puzzle Quest-style Color Combos mode), there's a little icon at the bottom of the screen you can click to "find more player-created puzzles of this type." EA is planning to also provide more puzzles after launch for free. EA reps said that the developers actually designed all the puzzles in the game using the enhanced Create mode, something that would have been impossible in the first Boom Blox. You can also rate levels using a simple 5-star system immediately after playing. And you get full author credit for creating a level. You can also easily remix custom levels you like and re-upload the remix.

-The overall design focus: Keeps what works, cut what didn't. Of course, a lot worked in the original Boom Blox. Just in competitive MP, there are now 22 play modes (twice as many as the original game). So there's quite a big focus competitive MP for Bash Party! Co-op is also greatly improved; both players have different tools and must work more closely together. This is evidenced in the underwater levels where one player can fend off a giant squid while the other player concentrates on completing the puzzle.

-Rather than a series of generic-looking levels, Bash Party organizes its levels into themed worlds: we saw levels based on outer space, underwater, and pirate themes.

-Big graphics upgrade: the levels no longer look like flat, cardboard cut-out dioramas, but pimped-out environments with lots of lighting, shading, and depth. It's actually one of the better-looking Wii games I've seen.

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patsfan365

I was a big fan of the first one but it was too short. Cant wait for this one.

patsfan365

BTW, i'm pissed at you Gamepro. A while ago you said that the DLC game Magicball was "like a mix between boomblox and brickbreaker. It was nothing like Boom Blox! It was all Brick Breaker. Waste of $10.

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