Smarty Pants (Wii) Review
Posted by Leland Roling on 11.29.2007
A smart, fun, and family friendly trivia game has finally hit the desolate genre on the Wii. Interactive uses of the Wiimote, competitive and family modes, and a plethora of questions to plow through make this game a fun bet for groups of friends or families looking to smarten up on everyday knowledge.
Fun for the whole family, and it'll make you smarter too...
With the holiday rush in full force, the Nintendo Wii system will begin to see a flood of new games from some of the larger gaming companies in the industry. With Wii's unique controller system, many third-party companies have also been producing some great new games that are now being released into the market. Electronic Arts in conjunction with Planet Moon Studios has released Smarty Pants, a trivia game with a competitive family fun aspect that is a relatively untouched genre for the Wii.
Smarty Pants features three modes, challenge cards, competitive races against the clock, and a repertoire of 20,000 age-appropriate questions that will keep you guessing for hours. The game also allows for 4 players to either play against each other or in teams. Surprisingly, the trivia modes aren't you standard click of a button to answer a question. The use of the Wiimote's motion abilities to buzz in, allow the player to have more time to answer questions, and battle in face offs when challenge cards are used is an interesting way to add in the motions to an otherwise uneventful answering of questions. The eventual goal is to outwit your challengers by either outpointing them in the competitive modes, or working together as a team in the family modes to hit a goal. Smarty Pants also takes advantage of the Mii avatars and keeps track of your progress over time, a fantastic way to measure your smarts and attach it to yourself using the Miis.
Graphics
With a game like Smarty Pants, don't expect unbelievable graphics since there is really no need for them. The game is simply a trivia game that pits you against your opponents, no need for intense graphics to mesmerize your experience. For a game that is simply a question and answer game, the graphic presentations of the questions and answers is crisp and calm. The lines on the images is very clean and for the most part, the screens have a minimalist feel to them.
For the most part, bubbly vector graphics that have a kiddish feel to them are throughout the game. Design-wise, the easy to use menus and smart navigation of the game is bar none one of the best I've seen on the Wii in quite some time. Don't be expecting overwhelmingly great graphics, but they won't disappoint or be hard on the eyes.
Gameplay
Smarty Pants doesn't feature a plethora of gameplay options. The game is strictly one-dimensional in that the basic concept is to answer questions correctly to obtain points. There is some variation, but for the most part, you will be testing your knowledge. Players will delve into three distinct modes: Solo, Competitive, and Family Modes. In the Solo mode, a player answers as many questions as possible in a certain time limit, gaining extra time for chaining correct answers together. In the competitive mode, two or more players can compete against each other in a “Wheel of Fortune” type of game in which you spin a wheel to select categories and a chance to get “Challenge Cards” that give advantages in the game. The competitive mode features two sub-modes, wager and countdown modes. In the Wager mode, players wager points on each question and in the Countdown mode, players earn points by answering the question, but the value is reduced by the time it takes to answer. Both modes have age-appropriate options that allow you to enter your age and the questions will then be populated with restrictions on only questions you could possibly know or with more adult oriented questions. It also seems to feature an option that can field questions from different international settings as well. All of these modes are very different options and present a different aspect to a group environment.
In Family mode, two or more players can compete against the clock to answer a predetermined amount of questions. The fun in the game is trying to string together answers to keep the amount of time limited. The motions that your partner can do in order to slow down the time include shaking, dancing with, waving, and jumping with the Wiimote. After a bit, this can work up quite a sweat. Mixed in throughout both of the multiplayer modes are various challenge cards that can be used to change a category, bring up an easier question, pause time while you think of an answer, and various other options. Sometimes, small mini-games are triggered by these cards, but are only limited to small tug-o-war battles and dance competitions.
Gameplay is fairly smooth. The transitions from question, to answer, to question is seamless. The smart navigation from the menus and the actions used by the player to initiate challenges is simple and very easy to learn. There are numerous helpful graphical representations of how to use the cards, how to use the various small actions in the game, and ways to use the Wiimote. It's a fairly easy way to play the game without having to sift through a manual.
My only complaint is that in the competitive modes, the transition from round to round can be slow at times as there are animations that are somewhat unneeded. This is a small price to pay for an otherwise smooth gameplay experience.
Sound
There isn't really much to say about the sound. At times, it's a bit kiddish, but the Jeopardy-like musical themes during the gameplay can amp a player up to answer quicker as time goes down. At times though, it can be a bit annoying and reminiscent of elevator music that can be a drag on your ears. The voice acting is that of a carnival promoter in that it announces the winners in an extravagant style that heralds you the winner! It isn't horrible, but it is standard in most games.
Overall, a standard array of sounds that are for the family. Some are kiddish, but many of the sounds you will hear involve music that will be to the tempo of your progress in the competitions. There isn't much variation or difference in any of the music, so it can become a bit repetitive and annoying at times.
Lasting Appeal
Smarty Pants apparently has 20,000 questions laid out over the appropriate age categories, but there were some noticeable oddities. In about 20-30 games, there were many games in which I ran into multiple questions that were repeated from various other rounds I have played previously. This wouldn't seem like it would happen a lot considering the 20,000 questions that the game claims are in the database, but this number grows smaller as the age group is zoned in on. This is only a small flaw at the moment. For the most part, many of the questions were new, and the challenging trivia in the game kept me on my toes.
Fun Factor
For the Wii, this is one of the best games in the trivia genre and really one of the only games with crisp presentation and a family fun concept. The “buzz-in” motioning and the antics that the players must motion through to extend their trivia experience to beat the other players is interesting and definitely makes for much more fun play. The challenge cards add a strategic element to the game as well, and triggers small mini-games, which can be very fun for the entire party playing.
With all of these modes, challenges, and motions intertwined together, it makes for a more fun version of a trivia game than that of sitting around and just straight answering questions. I will say that the game is fairly boring as a solo player. In solo mode, the player simply goes against the clock trying to answer as many questions as possible. If you want to get the full experience, play with at least 2 teams of 2, or 4 separate players. The competitive modes are much more fun in this capacity and playing the family modes as a team is a challenge in itself to complete.
Overall, it has a high fun factor, but it may only be as fun as the group of people you can get together to play on a regular basis. The game doesn't offer a huge amount of options as far as play goes, but there is the point that with so many questions in the game, it offers an unique experience every time.
The 411
The presentation looks great, the navigation is smooth, the modes are challenging, and the questions are fairly tough at times and make for a competitive gaming experience. It isn't overwhelmingly impressive due to the one-dimensional genre that the game exists in, but it is a successful attempt a trivia game that uses the Wiimote interactively. A good showing for Electronic Arts in a genre that has been untouched.
Graphics
7.0
Nothing great, but the presentation was smooth, menus transitioned quickly, and the graphics were crisp.
Gameplay
8.0
It's a trivia game, you can't expect too much, but there were some innovative uses of the Wiimote to help with the gameplay.
Sound
5.5
Kiddish music at times and some monotonous and repetitive trivia theme music that will get old quick.
Lasting Appeal
8.3
20,000 questions, should have considerable time to remain fresh and the 4 player modes provide some fun for groups of friends and family.
Fun Factor
7.8
In a group environment, this would be a very fun and challenging game, but doesn't have the same appeal with smaller parties.
