
	Platform Wii (WiiWare) Genre Puzzle Publisher Digital Leisure Developer Digital Leisure ESRB E (Everyone) Released October 20, 2009

- 30 levels - Supports the Wii Balance board

- Music is repetitive - Overly sensitive WiiMote controls

Review: Mercury Meltdown Remix (Wii) Review: Target: Terror (Wii) Review: Big Brain Academy Wii Degree (Wii)
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

The Incredible Maze

Score: 5.0 / 10

The Incredible Maze is a difficult game to review because on one hand you have a title that has limited play time (at least in one session) and on the other you have to remind yourself that this title costs only 500 WiiPoints and gives you some additional use out of that Wii balance board that you camped outside your local electronics store for.

The gameplay is reminiscent of those old wooden labyrinth toys where you turn the two knobs to control the board and get the silver ball from the beginning to the end without falling in the hole traps along the way. I personally love those toys so I was

Advertisement

- Wii Game Reviews
- Puzzle Game Reviews

delighted to see that the Incredible Maze tackled the gameplay head on.

This concept is not exactly new on the Wii. Super Monkey Ball, Kororinpa: Marble Mania and even parts of Super Mario Galaxy all contain a similar concept but the Incredible Maze stays focused on 30 levels of mazes that range from extremely easy to very difficult.

Turning your WiiMote sideways you tilt the

Advertisement

game board and let the ball roll its way onto the end goal. The game ramps up the difficulty by removing the outer walls of the maze on the higher levels (making it all too easy to fall off) and by placing traps in particularly tight corners. The traps of course, are holes that your ball will fall into. When this happens, you will be placed back in the maze close to where you fell off. You don’t lose a life when this happens, but rather the game keeps track of how many times you’ve had to restart. Like golf, the lower the number the better player you are.

The problem with the game becomes evident with the overly sensitive controls of the WiiMote. While the physics of the ball are quite good, the precise movements of the controller will have you feeling frustrated very quickly. I sometimes forget that when you are in a tricky corner you can also shake the controller and have the ball “jump”. There is little control over where it ends up, but at least it’s an option to help you progress to the next level.

There are two saving graces for this game. The first is the fact that it supports the Wii Balance board. The control is much better here in my experience than the WiiMote and it changes the dynamic of the game. It also makes it more interesting for you to try the Time Attack mode to compete against friends to see who can finish the level in the best time. The second factor that I must consider when reviewing this game is the price. If I had bought this game at full retail I would not be impressed. Even in the value bin I might have been somewhat disappointed but at only 500 Wii Points there is definitely value here.

The Incredible Maze doesn’t quite live up to its name but it does offer some fun in short bursts. The music is quite repetitive, reminding me of the old Amiga MOD music days (and this part isn’t entirely a bad thing) but this is often the fate of WiiWare titles. The title does not take up a lot of space on your system and this one is perfectly representative of a casual game.

- Syd Bolton

(December 17, 2008)