$20 Game of the Week: Blast Works (Wii)

One of the major complaints about the Wii is that Nintendo doesn’t cater to the hardcore gamer audience enough. I’m hard pressed to disagree, as I only own 4 games that aren’t Virtual Console titles, and one of them is a port of a 4-year old game whose sequel was just released this past March. With that having been said, I can’t believe how anyone, casual or hardcore alike, could have overlooked this 2008 title from Majesco/Budcat Creations. It’s a classic-style shooter with a very flexible set of creation tools. In fact, I’d almost go as far to say that this is the Wii’s answer to Sony’s Little Big Planet.

The main game, Blast Works, is a port of Tumiki Fighters, a 2004 freeware game released by Kenta Cho. The best way to describe this game’s gameplay would be R-type meets Katamari. You blast apart enemies and attach their debris to your ship. Besides making your ship comically huge and absurd, this serves two main purposes. For one, the debris acts as extra armor for your ship. Secondly, enemy canons become active when they’re attached to your ship. You can even attach bosses to your ship as well. You can retract your additions by pressing B so you can save your extra weaponry for when you need it. Although, be aware that without the ship additions, you’ll be taken out in one hit. In addition to the main campaign (which you can play in co-op multiplayer), you can unlock 4 other Kenta Cho games, including the original Tumiki Fighters.

The main campaign’s story is virtually nonexistent, but who plays these types of games for the story anyhow? The real part of the package is the set of editors that have been included with the game. You can create everything from new ships, to new enemies and bullets, and even new levels. Best of all, you can trade new things via WiiConnect 24 and the website http://www.blastworksdepot.com. There is a very steep learning curve to using the editors, so you’ll want to check out the tutorials before diving into anything.

Weather you’re a hardcore gamer, a casual gamer, a hopeful designer, or somewhere in between, this disc has something for everyone. At its core, it’s a fun and nostalgic multiplayer classic shooter with a quirky gameplay mechanic and tons of unlockables. The complete packages allows gamers to flex their creative muscle. If you’re willing to look past the simplistic graphics, then you’ll find one of the most original and enjoyable experiences on the Wii.