Groovin' Blocks Are Dancing All Night

Sep. 17 6:48 PM by Dack

Wow. An original WiiWare game that doesn't suck. After weeks of shovelware like Spogs Racing and Pong Toss: Frat Party Games I didn't think it would happen. Sure, there was Strongbad, but that was anticipated to be a solid release. Groovin' Blocks, however, has all the signs of shovelware, yet somehow it's a respectable game.

The game is a simple puzzle game with a cool new twist. Basically, you play on a grid where colored blocks are falling down. You rotate the blocks to match the color of other blocks. When you match a pattern of colored blocks, they disappear and you get points. Sound Familiar? Well, it is. It's much like a ton of other hit puzzle games like Lumines, Puyo Pop and Tetris. Instead of coming off as a mere clone, though, Groovin' Blocks puts a unique spin on the formula by adding a rhythm system. Basically, you play the game to the beat of the song in the background. If you drop the block formation down on a beat, you can build up a significant amount of points. There's a Beat Meter on both sides of the grid showing you when beats will hit in case you're not a very rhythmic person.

There is a respectable amount of tracks in the game. Sure, you're not going to get licensed tracks in a lower budget game like this, but the music that was chosen is perfectly listenable, working well with the formula of the game. It's better than almost every WiiWare game released thus far....although I suppose that's not a horribly huge accomplishment considering most WiiWare soundtracks sound like they are from 1994.

It's surprising that this is the first game made from developer Empty Clip Studios. They could have totally phoned it in, but they actually put effort into Groovin' Blocks. I look forward to seeing their next game to see if this was a fluke or not.

Groovin' Blocks isn't a very unique game, nor is it a revolutionary game. It is, however, a fun game that's challenging and will take some good coordination and practice to master. Fans of puzzle games will eat it up. For under $10, this is a bargain that you should definitely get your money's worth with.

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