The long-anticipated launch of WiiWare hit the Wii Shop Channel yesterday, and after perusing the available titles, I grabbed Pop first, with an eye toward picking up LostWinds when had more time to dedicate to it.
Pop is one of those games that demand your unblinking attention, as you zip the pointer around the screen looking for appropriate bubbles to pop. It's got a sort of shooting-gallery vibe to it, with extra point rewards for chaining same-colored bubbles and hitting the smaller targets. You'll need to keep your eye on the timer as well, which continually counts down to zero; hitting big bubbles will slow its relentless march by adding a few seconds while firing into empty space will steal three seconds and possibly hasten your doom. Special bubbles with effects ranging from chain multipliers to slowdowns and penalty bubbles that count as misses mix things up a bit.
Playing Pop for long stretches puts you in zone-out territory; it's just you, the bubbles, and your popper. Experienced Remote-wavers will find themselves being able to get quite far in the Normal mode on their first play; the lengthy ramp-up in challenge from game start reminded me a bit of the snooze-fest that begins a game of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. However, there's considerable additional challenge and depth in trying to max out chains and multipliers; I realized just how far I have to go when I tried out the Advanced mode, which times you on the road to 10 million points... I ran out of time after barely breaking 3 million, leaving me with no score in that mode at all.
If the notion of strategically shooting bubbles in an arcade-style high score competition appeals to you, Pop is probably worth checking out. It's one of those games that only Wii can really do justice, and fun for both casuals and devoted gamers alike.
A side note: some folks (myself included) are experiencing lockups at the end-of-game screen. It seems you can avoid this if you turn off the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which is used for leaderboards, under Options; but developer Nnooo is working with Nintendo on the issue and would appreciate if you could pass on the following information to them via e-mail to support@nnooo.com:
Pop is one of those games that demand your unblinking attention, as you zip the pointer around the screen looking for appropriate bubbles to pop. It's got a sort of shooting-gallery vibe to it, with extra point rewards for chaining same-colored bubbles and hitting the smaller targets. You'll need to keep your eye on the timer as well, which continually counts down to zero; hitting big bubbles will slow its relentless march by adding a few seconds while firing into empty space will steal three seconds and possibly hasten your doom. Special bubbles with effects ranging from chain multipliers to slowdowns and penalty bubbles that count as misses mix things up a bit.
Playing Pop for long stretches puts you in zone-out territory; it's just you, the bubbles, and your popper. Experienced Remote-wavers will find themselves being able to get quite far in the Normal mode on their first play; the lengthy ramp-up in challenge from game start reminded me a bit of the snooze-fest that begins a game of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. However, there's considerable additional challenge and depth in trying to max out chains and multipliers; I realized just how far I have to go when I tried out the Advanced mode, which times you on the road to 10 million points... I ran out of time after barely breaking 3 million, leaving me with no score in that mode at all.
If the notion of strategically shooting bubbles in an arcade-style high score competition appeals to you, Pop is probably worth checking out. It's one of those games that only Wii can really do justice, and fun for both casuals and devoted gamers alike.
A side note: some folks (myself included) are experiencing lockups at the end-of-game screen. It seems you can avoid this if you turn off the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which is used for leaderboards, under Options; but developer Nnooo is working with Nintendo on the issue and would appreciate if you could pass on the following information to them via e-mail to support@nnooo.com:
- What version of the Wii Menu do you have?
- How many friends did you choose to send updates to?
- How many friends do you have on your friends list?
- Does it crash every time you connect to the net at the end of the game or just sometimes? If sometimes, is there a way to repeat it?
- Who is your Internet provider?
- Have you tried updating your system to the latest firmware?
- How old is your Wii? Is it a retail version? Please provide the serial number and/or batch number, if you have one.