Elebits was supposed to be a launch game for the Wii, but it was delayed in order to add WiiConnect24 features. Was the delay worth it? How does Elebits compare to all other Wii games out there? Read on to find out!
The story of Elebits is very kiddy oriented and nothing to write home about. The Elebits are living organisms who are responsible for energizing the world. Everything from coffee makers to toy trains to washing machines is powered by this creatures. Your main character is a kid who despises Elebits because his parents are scientists who spend their lives studying the Elebits and you feel they never have time for you. Once again, you find yourself alone at night when the world’s power goes off. Getting matters on your own hands(and hoping to lure your parents back home) the kid, Kai, gets his dad’s gravity gun and starts hunting Elebits. Simple premise that wont cause the world to go mad over it, but it does it’s job of giving you a reason to make a mess.
Graphics:
The graphics are nice to look at, but they are nothing that can’t be done better on more powerful systems. Objects are neatly detailed and the Elebits, in spite of being so small, show a wide range of emotions from sleepy, to surprised, to running away for their lives. The indoor environments are much better than the outdoor ones, since the ones that take place around the city tend to repeat the same textures for walls and windows.
One of the game’s biggest issues and one that has been criticized by many gaming sites is the horrible frame rate. The game’s frame rate is very unstable, especially in outdoor environments. However, it never bogs down to being unplayable. With so many objects you can move and throw around and dozens if not hundreds of Elebits on screen at a time, it is understandable. Overall I think that Elebits is one of the best looking Wii games available at this time.
Gameplay:
Getting one thing out of the way: This game is easy. Since you can never die in this game and the challenge comes from finding Elebits around the environment, no level will take you more than three tries to beat.
The game is a first person shooter combined with a hide and seek game. Elebits are hiding around the environment in all sorts of places. Inside trash cans, under toys, inside boxes, underneath plants, under the bed, everywhere. Using the gravity gun, you aim at the screen and shoot to zap the Elebits and capture them. Getting a certain amount of watts will let you open doors or power up appliances like the microwave or washing machine and proceed to other areas.
Elebits come in different colors. Green and Orange are standard ones. Powering up Appliances release yellow and pink ones, which are power Elebits. This do not count towards your Watt total, what they do is that they increase the power of your gravity gun. The more power you have, the heavier the objects you can lift and thus, the more Elebits you can find. Blue Elebits count towards your total watts, but they are more challenging to get since they can bounce around at high speed. Finally, black Elebits with purple spikes are bad Elebits and they can hurt you once you zap them.
Each level challenges you to get a certain amount of total watts in a certain amount of time. This is the challenge of the game, you need to move fast and strategically decide when it is better to power appliances and collect power elebits and when to keep looking for standard ones. Each appliance requires you to have a certain total watts in order to power it. Once you reach that amount, you just need to push a button on the appliance to power it. In some cases, appliances require other things to power up in addition to the watts total, like dragging a piece of bread into the toaster or a chicken from the refrigerator into the oven. Each object in the game has its own weight which is displayed when you zap it and you need to collect those power elebits to be able to lift it. Eventually you will go from lifting plates and pillows, to cars and pianos.
As the game progresses the levels become bigger, usually a combination of multiple areas you have already beat, and the challenge increases in the form of extra tasks. For example, you might need to prevent objects from breaking, which means carefully moving those plates and pots instead of throwing them around. Also scared Elebits might run into things and knock them down. This same challenge is repeated in the form of noise levels. Certain stages will require you to keep the noise down, which once again mean that you need to stop breaking stuff, throwing objects around and such. The other challenge I have seen is to prevent you from being knocked out. Basically you have five lives and you loose one every time you zap a black elebit or a black elebit jumps at you and you fail to move away. You need to duck or move away to prevent the black elebit from touching you. Since you can usually see them from a mile away, this isn’t as hard as it sounds.
Beating the levels under a certain time or by capturing a certain amount of Elebits opens up new stuff, like that same level on Score Attack mode, which challenges you to complete a new, insanely high watt total in the same time as the standard mission. Score Attack is far more challenging, but not impossible by any means. You can also unlock the level’s template for the create-a-level mode.
The Create a Level Mode, or Edit Mode as it is called, allows you to take one of the game’s pre-made levels and move objects around, add or delete objects and Elebits and such. The idea is that you can create these levels to play them yourself or send them to friends trough the use of the WiiConnect24 feature. You need to know the other persons console number and you are restricted to one level trade per day, but the system works as good as you expect it to.
Finally, the game has a thrown in multiplayer mode that forces you to cooperate and compete at the same time. This mode is not much fun, since the first player controls the camera and if he is ahead, he can simply sit still and wait for the timer to run out and player two can’t do anything about it.
Sound
The sound is a mixed bag. The voice of Kai is absolutely irritating. I cant stand it! The Elebits have their own cutesy sound effects and they are ok, objects sound realistic when they break down, although throwing around heavy stuff like the piano sometimes sounds weaker than breaking a plate. The music is serviceable at best, what I mean is that you wont be humming the tune, but it wont get in the way either.
Lasting appeal
Elebits will take you quite some time to beat. It is not difficult, but it is a fairly long game. Expect 10-12 hours to beat the normal missions. After that you can try the score attack and other challenges. However, this is the type of game that you wont want to play for a while after you beat everything. The game’s lasting value also depends on how much you get into the Edit Mode and how many people you know willing to trade levels.
Fun Factor
I have criticized the game for being easy and for having weak multiplayer. But one thing is for certain: This game is fun. It’s so much fun that I stopped playing Zelda completely until I beat this game. It is also easy to learn, basically anyone that can point and shoot will be able to have fun with it. There is something really charming about making a huge mess around the house while zapping small little critters. I don’t know what it is, but I can honestly tell you that this game is as much fun as I have had since getting the Wii.
The 411
If only for how well it uses the Wii’s controller and for how much fun anyone can have with it, Elebits is a must have. I would easily place it among the Wii’s top five games at this point. But if you are not sure about the kiddie premise, rent it. I am sure you will have so much fun that you will want to buy it.
Graphics
8.0
Among the best on the Wii, in spite of the bad frame rate.
Gameplay
8.5
Very fun, uses the Wii's controller really well and is very addictive.
Sound
6.5
Kai's voice is irritating, the elebits have some nice effects, some of the objects don't sound like they should.
Lasting Appeal
7.0
Unless you get hooked on the Edit Mode, this is one of those games you won't play for some time after beating it.
Fun Factor
8.0
One of the best games on the Wii right now. Just plain fun.
