Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this fun puzzle game, with many levels of difficulty, shows off some innovative gameplay possibilities of the Wii system. Kids can even create their own puzzles and share them over the Internet by using Nintendo's WiiConnect 24 network -- Common Sense Media recommends that parents supervise this part of the game for kids under age 12. This game has mild blasting with a capture beam where no one gets injured -- and teaches players how to strategize their moves. However, some of the puzzles encourage recklessness by allowing you to pick up everything in a room and try to break it.
Families can talk about why this game is so much fun. Do you feel like you have more control over what you're doing in the game with the Wii controller? You can also discuss the physics of the game. What happens when the gravity disappears? Is this what would really happen? Was it fun to trash and break items? Do you like the game better with or without the clock working against you? How does the game help you strategize?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
ELEBITS is a high-tech version of the old favorite hide-and-seek. This action-puzzle game for the new Nintendo Wii system showcases the unique gameplay that is possible with the Wii controller.
The premise is straightforward: lightning has knocked out the electricity to a house, and the way to restore it is to find and catch little electrical beings know as Elebits.
The wireless Wii controller becomes your seeker, and as you aim it at the screen, its location shows up as a round bulls-eye. If you move to the edge of the screen, the view changes. Thus you simply wave the beam around to move within a room. This game uses a Wii nunchuk attached to the Wii controller. You use the nunchuk's multi-directional wheel to move closer or farther away, as well as to peek over or under things.
Some Elebits are simply out in the open. If you move your bulls-eye on them and push the A or B button on the Wii controller, you will generate a beam of light that magically captures the little colored, teardrop-shaped creatures. Their capture registers as watts gained on a power meter.
Other Elebits are more elusive. They are hiding in and under objects. This is where the game gets interesting. The beam you generate by holding down the A or B button acts like a very long extended arm. It can attach to objects to allow you to pick them up and shake them to see if an Elebit is hiding in or under the object. If you fire the beam at a doorknob and turn your wrist, you open the door. If you direct the beam at a drawer and pull your hand backwards, the drawer will open. With this intuitive gameplay, you won't ever look at the controller to select a button -- you simply move your arms.
As you collect Elebits, electrical things within the room will become available to be turned on by firing your beam. When you turn an object on, the appliance releases a bunch of special power Elebits. By collecting them, you eventually increase the capture beam's ability to pick up heavier items. You start with simply being able to lift a child's wooden block, but eventually you can lift a car!
The game provides 29 Elebit-seeking missions that get progressively harder. Objectives vary in terms of the amount of watts you need to collect and the length of time you have. Lest you get bored by simply searching, the game periodically adds requirements like not breaking things or providing power-ups to help capture Elebits.
A multiplayer mode becomes available after you have passed a level on the Story mode, even though the "story" is incidental to completing the puzzle levels. If you complete a level in record time, an edit mode unlocks that allows you to create your own puzzles to share with others over the Internet with Nintendo's WiiConnect 24 network. You can also unlock the ability to play the level with no time limit.
This is an intriguing game that will appeal to both girls and boys. Some kids will approach it as a hide-and-seek puzzle, where careful planning pays off. Others, who like fast-paced action, will treat this game as a type of "shooter" and revel in hunting for Elebits by grabbing onto objects and then tossing everything in sight.
The time constraints at each level encourage the aggressive "wreak havoc" approach. It's too bad the game didn't provide the no-time option from the get-go because, for some, the pressure to find the Elebits fast gets in the way of the fun.
If you liked this Wii game, check out WarioWare: Smooth Moves and Rayman Raving Rabbids.
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ViolenceThere is some blasting using a capture beam, but no creatures are injured. |
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Educational ValuePuzzles involve planning out your moves. |
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