The Nintendo Wii's unique control scheme and desire to inspire everyone from two to 200 to play on it has inspired its share of wacky, weird, and wonderful puzzlers and party games. One of the latest, Roogoo: Twisted Towers, is certainly a puzzler, possibly a party game, and unquestionably wacky and weird. Its wonderfulness however, is left in serious doubt.
The first of the Roogoo series to come to the Wii, Twisted Towers, has players spin platforms around so as to allow various shapes to fall into the appropriate hole in the tower – stars go into the star shaped holes, squares into the square shaped ones, etc. Perhaps the best way to think of it is as one of those toddler toys designed to teach shapes – the triangle only fits into the triangle shape, the circular only into the circle one – and to take that toy and stack it on another and another and another. The toddler would then have the triangle in the right place for the first toy, but have to shift around the second to allow the triangle continue on its way. Now, put space between the toddler toys, wire it in annoying fashion to a remote control, and obscure the toddler's point of view. Lastly, keep all the graphics very basic and blocky. That's Roogoo: Twisted Towers.
As the game progresses, the number of platforms increase as do the number of shapes and various obstacles on the platform which have to be overcome by shaking the Wii remote or pushing the down button or just waiting until enough pieces have stacked up. And then there's the net which is used for scooping up butterflies, bats, and dropped pieces (drop too many and one loses the level) and a hammer which comes into play on occasion for bonking baddies. There are some amusing boss battles as well, but the game never quite rises about ho-hum, and one definitely gets the sense that it could have. It fails though to ever be truly thrilling for several reasons.
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