Do you know the capital city of Egypt? How about the date when man first walked on the Moon? Also know how many people are on a water polo team? If youre a master of general knowledge or even if you just want to improve your general knowledge, then Sm...
Do you know the capital city of Egypt? How about the date when man first walked on the Moon? Also know how many people are on a water polo team? If youre a master of general knowledge or even if you just want to improve your general knowledge, then Smarty Pants might be the game for you. With the success and popularity of the various quiz games on the PS2, particular the Buzz series, it was always a question of when, not if, a quiz game would be released on the Wii.
With the ability to use Wii motes as buzzers themselves, it was a given that a quiz game would eventuate. The well received touch generation games that have also been released on the DS and Wii further demonstrate the inevitability of a Wii quiz game. Smarty Pants is one such game, but does it deliver the goods or does it leave much to be desired? To see the verdict on Smarty Pants, continue reading.
Quiz games certainly do not appeal to all gamers. Considering the whole premise revolves around answering questions, one could argue that quiz games really do not need to be developed into video game format having board game iterations suffice. However, the aforementioned success of games like Buzz counters this argument and quiz games, or at least some of them, have been well received. They do offer an interactive quiz experience and they allow family or friends to get together for a test of knowledge. Smarty Pants is a simplistic experience that offers a few different game modes testing general knowledge on a range of areas including science, technology, the world, food and drink, sports and the UK.
Unfortunately, this latter category doesnt feel right and takes away from the experience. Whilst suitable for European PAL regions, having a whole topic on the UK doesnt make a lot of sense for an Australian audience. The questions in this topic are very specific and unless youve studied the UK, youll find yourself unsure more often then not. Furthermore, even questions in the other topics have a tendency to be related to the UK, such as sports questions regarding local UK football (soccer) clubs. Its a bit disappointing really, as it sours the gameplay experience when youre hit with questions that really need not be included. Why EA couldnt change the topic to questions about Australia is beyond me. It is a task that would have taken just a short amount of time to do, yet it didnt happen. Ultimately, Smarty Pants is very much geared towards the UK audience. Its only one topic of several, yet there is no denying the effect it has on the game.
Ignoring the flaw outlined above, Smarty Pants offers a good quiz experience that is best enjoyed with fellow gamers. There are a couple of play modes to choose from in the game including solo mode, friends mode, and family mode. Solo mode is obviously for the lone player, and simply requires you to answer as many questions as possible within a certain time limit. A neat feature of the game is that the questions are age-targeted meaning they are aimed to be suitable questions for your age group. This means an older adult can play with a young child in a balanced game.
Its a nice inclusion that makes the playing field even allowing everybody to participate and enjoy the game without being disadvantaged. Solo mode is ok if youre a real quiz buff or as a means of sprucing up your knowledge before taking on someone else. Aside from that, playing alone isnt that entertaining and youll need others to play with if youre going to enjoy what Smarty Pants offers.
As alluded to, two different multiplayer modes are on offer – family mode and friends mode. All this really means is that one mode offers you to play against others (friends) whilst the other (family) is co-operative. In friends mode, you are awarded a certain amount of points per correct answer and at the end of the competition, the player with the most points is dubbed the Smarty Pants. You can either choose to play friends mode in countdown mode or wager mode. In countdown mode, the amount of points awarded per question starts at 500 and begins to drop once the question has been marked. This means quicker answers are awarded more compared to slower ones. In wager mode, before each set of questions, the players shoot at targets to determine how much each question is worth.
Apart from these minimal differences, each mode is essentially the same and it really doesnt matter which mode you play. Personally, I prefer countdown as playing the shooting mini-game (in order to determine each questions point worth) gets monotonous after a while. Another feature of friends mode is the bonus round which allows players to continually answer questions in turn until an incorrect answer is given. Theres no buzzing in here, and it allows you to catch up if you know your stuff, but just arent quick enough.
The other multiplayer mode, family mode, is similar to solo mode in that you have to answer as many questions as possible in a certain time limit. This time though, you work with others to answer the questions. When each question is asked, it will determine which player has to answer it, though any of you can really answer the question, just one person is responsible for actually selecting the correct answer on screen. This mode is again a bit dull, and whilst it is fun enough to see how well you and your friends/family can do, it isnt engaging enough to keep you coming back for more. That said, if you really enjoy quizzes, Im sure youll find it enjoyable enough.
The actual mechanics of the quiz game are rather simple. In friends mode, each player takes turns spinning a wheel that will choose the category. You can also pick up challenge cards that will allow you to do a range of things including making a question harder, switching the category, or answering a question after someone else has already buzzed in. The challenge cards allow for a bit more strategy in the game, and if used wisely, can make the difference between victory and defeat. To answer a question, you simply flick the Wii-mote upwards which is an effective way to incorporate interactive gestures into the game. Similarly, to use a challenge card, you make a flicking gesture whilst holding B. Another thing that might be activated when spinning the wheel is the double-points dance which requires the play to dance (read: randomly flick the Wii-mote in difference directions) in order to fill a bar that will determine how much questions are worth in the following round (E.g., x2, x1.5). I can see the merit of having a chance to double the worth of points, but the inane dancing required is just annoying and makes landing on the double-points dance are burden.
As expected, Smarty Pants has simple but adequate graphics and sound. A far cry from pushing the hardware in the Wii, but you dont expect much from a quiz game, do you? Presentation is simplistic with basic ground music that is neither good nor bad and visuals that dont appeal but do not horrify. Sound effects are again very simple and suitable enough. I dont have many complaints in these departments, as I honestly didnt expect a whole lot. If anything, some more catchy music could have been used that changes in regards to the tensity of the game.
The ability to use your own mp3s would have also been welcomed. Replay value largely depends on how much you enjoy quiz games. If you really enjoy a quiz, and have others to play with, then youre bound to get plenty of hours of enjoyment out of the game. I put quite a few hours into the game without doubling up on a question, suggesting there is a depth to the amount of questions in the game. If you dont have others to play with, then youll struggle to keep coming back unless youre an absolute quiz buff and cannot get enough of them.
Overall, Smarty Pants is adequate quiz game that caters well to a broad range of individuals, thanks to the age-specific questions. The solo and co-op modes are ok, but the best fun is challenging friends or family to a quiz challenge. Questions cover several broad topics, though the UK topic doesnt fit and only detracts from the games appeal.
The Wii-mote gestures work well and the game isnt overrun, thankfully, with other gimmicky aspects (Im looking at you double-points dance). If youre after a quiz game for the family, then Smarty Pants makes for a good recommendation. If youre a lone player or dont enjoy quizzes, then your money is best spent elsewhere. Theres some good ideas in Smarty Pants so lets hope any future instalments or any future quiz games take these ideas and just add some more polish.
Introductory pricing from now until the end of January.
Magnets, always with the magnets.
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