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Faced with the difficult choice between the innovative cuteness of LostWinds and the familiarity of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles universe in My Life as a King, I instead decided to make Nnooo's Pop my first WiiWare download. The games that required thinking could wait, I figured. I just want to pop me some bubbles.

And that's what I did. I didn't count on the possibility that it might be a good game, though. I figured I'd play it for a few minutes, write a scathing and dismissive review, and be done with it. But no! As unlikely as it seems, this bubble-popping simulator's got some depth to it, and I'd even go so far as to say that it's worth your money.

Pop-o-matic

Pop features what may be the most simplistic gameplay concept and control scheme possible on the Wii. To play, you point at the screen and press either A or B to pop the bubbles that scroll across.

Seriously, that's it.

Now, you can sit back and just pop random bubbles like an idiot if you want (in fact, there's a "chill" mode that allows you to do just that for as long as you want, with no restrictions or objectives to get in your way), but that'll only get you so far. Bubbles in Pop come in an array of improbable shapes and sizes, and determining which ones are worth your popping attention is where the complexity comes in.

You're given a timer at the top of the screen, see. It can increase to a maximum of 100 seconds, and if it reaches zero, your game is over. Popping bigger bubbles gives you time bonuses, while missing or hitting skull bubbles causes it to drain by several seconds.

Proper time management will only get you so far in Pop's online leaderboards, though. In order to get the highest scores, you'll also need to go after the smaller bubbles, which are worth more points. Additional scoring opportunities can be earned by popping several bubbles of the same color in a row, or by popping a cluster of bubbles all at once. Add in score multipliers and power-ups, and you've got yourself a decently complex and fun game that pretty much anyone can enjoy.

Hop on Pop

It starts off slow, but you'll really start to get a feel for the game a few stages in. By that point, the levels will start to scroll faster, and you'll have been introduced to bombs that cause explosions when popped, which take out any nearby bubbles for extra points. These explosions can also trigger the time-draining skull bubbles, however, and you'll need to think fast to figure out if the risk is worth it.

I like this game. It's got simultaneous play for up to four players, a selection of gameplay modes and difficulties, and an Xbox Live-like achievement system to make the single-player game worthwhile. Pop delivers on its promise of providing a bubble-popping game for the Wii, and it somehow turns the premise into an unexpectedly satisfying experience. Seven bucks may seem a little steep, but you'll be surprised to find out that your money is well-spent.

PROS: Simple and addictive; jump-in, jump-out multiplayer; great sound design.
CONS: Limited number of play modes; may be too simplistic for some.

GRAPHICS: 3.00
SOUND: 4.50
CONTROL: 5.00
FUN FACTOR: 4.00

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