Nintendo Wii Review - Roogoo: Twisted Towers

Remember when parents told you that patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time was difficult? You laughed and responded, “Child’s play,” only to discover that challenging your brain to do two things at once is actually a difficult task. “Roogoo: Twisted Towers” is a lot like that. The premise is simple get the right shape in the right hole. See a square - drop it in the square-shaped hole. See a star – into the star shaped hole it goes. Sound simple? Thing again.

“Roogoo: Twisted Towers” may seem like “child’s play,” but you will quickly find out that this puzzle-based-block game is has its fair share of challenge regardless of age. The game involves getting five different puzzle pieces into their respective holes. The challenge is getting them in there. The name of the game is Twisted Towers, and that is exactly what you’re dealing with. As blocks materialize on your screen, each floor in the tower will twist and turn trying to prevent you from getting the right shape in the right hole. You can rotate the tower clockwise with the B-button or counterclockwise with the Z-button. From time to time Meemoos will appear to block the next hole in the tower. You’ll have to rotate the tower quickly, to navigate to the right hole, and then hit the down button to smash the blocking Meemoos with the falling block.

Each Tower turn requires deliberate planning and a quick eye. If you miss a block, you will have a chance to catch it by waving your Wii-mote as a net to catch the lost meteor shape (block). The net can also be used to catch bats blocking your view. This is as challenging as it is exciting. The simple premise is quickly engaging and provides hours of fun. “Roogoo: Twisted Towers” will push you to exceed your hand-eye coordination limits. Once you get the hammer, there are also a few boss fights that will top off the challenge with amusing enemy-bashing action.

Unfortunately, as the hours go by so will your patience. As the game progresses, the developers used oddly annoying camera angles to add to the puzzle. Instead of making the game more interesting, this design flaw actually hurts your gameplay. You will often find it difficult to see where each meteor block is supposed to go next, as the platforms are angled in obscure positions.

Between Tower levels there are some aerial scenes to break up the monotony. These are quick levels where you fly around in a circle gathering shapes and shooting down obstacles blocking your path. Although this is a nice addition, these boards pass by so quickly that you hardly notice them. It would have been nice if these were longer or if there were more of them.

Cooperative play is almost a joke in Twisted Towers. While the first player handles the fun strategic task of navigating the meteor shapes through the Tower, the second player simply catches falling shapes and bats. Unless you’re playing with your two year old, I’m certain the second player will find this boring task a quick snooze fest. Two-player-competitive games are reminiscent of other competitive block-puzzle games. You compete with one another in split-screen mode navigating the meteor shapes through the tower, and have the chance to occasionally attack your opponent with Meemoos.

Outside of a troublesome underwater level that is riddled with more of the aforementioned visual problems, Roogoo has several delightful and overwhelmingly scenic levels. From a whale’s belly to ice-capped mountains and resplendent jungles, you’ll have a blast collecting blocks – as long as you can deal with the occasional infuriating camera angle.

“Roogoo: Twisted Towers” is a nice addition to the block-based-puzzle genre. Quirky camera angles hinder this version from being a “great addition.” But, for $29.99 it’s not a bad bargain.