Topic: IMPRESSIONS: Boingz

[MegaByte]

The Lost Vikings meet Gumby.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=17018

 Boingz is yet another example of a ā€œgarageā€ game coming to WiiWare, with a surprising publisher: RealNetworks, a company better known for streaming audio on the Internet.  Boingz plays somewhat like The Lost Vikings... if The Lost Vikings were made of rubber bands.  The Boingz are phallic characters that come in three colors, and the object of the game is to direct the Boingz to their respectively-colored goals.      

The Boingz can walk as well as make short jumps.  At the beginning of each stage all of the Boingz are inactive except one.  That one must touch the others to wake them, after which the player can switch among any of them.  Each Boingz can be grabbed by a knob on the top of their heads using the Wii Remote.  Once grabbed, a large red arrow appears showing the trajectory of the character.  Players can then move the Remote around the fixed axis and releasing their grip will launch the Boingz.    

Besides walking or being flung, Boingz can also be pinned down to various platforms and objects such as boulders.  Levels will often require the cooperation of multiple Boingz.   For instance, one character can be bolted down to form a bridge or stair step that aids another in reaching the goal.  Given the flexibility of the physics engine, Boingz levels are not restricted to one solution.      

While the Boingz themselves appear as paper cutout characters, the backgrounds are 3D, evoking a Dr. Seuss-esque atmosphere.  Power-up items are strewn throughout levels, and collecting enough of them will increase the range of the Boingz.  Some levels are designed such that some areas are not accessible until enough of these items are collected.    

The game includes 40 levels of increasing challenge, and with a maximum of eight Boingz per stage, some of the levels can get quite complex to solve.  Unfortunately, this rendition will not include a level editor, which would have truly unlocked the creative potential of the game.  However, it does keep a list of best times to challenge players to perfect their solutions.    

Boingz shows a lot of potential, and although there are a limited number of levels, there are many ways to solve them.  The artsy physics-based interface allows it to be picked up by anyone, while the time-attack component will surely increase its lastability.    

   

[KDR_11k]

I always thought RealNetworks was known for software that fills your screen with advertisements while "buffering" flashes in a small part of it?

Did something specific trigger the complaint about the lack of a level editor? After all most games don't have one, why is that mentioned?

The game does sound interesting though.

[Nick DiMola]

Well Real may be publishing, but NinjaBee, creators of Outpost Kaloki X and Band of Bugs for Xbox Live Arcade are developing it. Being that it's in their hands, I'm pretty confident this game will turn out pretty well.

But yeah, seeing Real on the game scene at all is pretty odd...

[MegaByte]

Did something specific trigger the complaint about the lack of a level editor? After all most games don't have one, why is that mentioned?

Because this game is perfectly suited for one... the design simplicity coupled with the physics engine and puzzle nature just asks for it.  After playing the game, I wished I could experiment with the environment in a more creative sense than just solving a set of pre-defined levels.