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"So you guys going to make fun of Jenga anymore?" This is the first question asked as I was stood in front of a flat screen monitor, handed a Wiimote nunchuck combo and given a chance to give the Wii version of Atari's virtual version of the party game where everyone gets wood. "That wasn't me!" I reply defensively. See, now this is me making fun of Jenga. It's a sound game concept to be sure, and the Wii is the perfect place for such a party game, save one - actual physical real-life space. While I've never thought I would use the words Jenga and fun in the same sentence (except perhaps to say so), playing the actual physical game of Jenga is much more fun than this game is going to turn out, bells and whistles included.
Building blocks are the building blocks of Jenga, and those building blocks are represented here in all their digital splendor. I'd say the one advantage the video game has over the actual game is the you don't have to spend the time putting it all back together afterwards. Other than that, not so good. Basically you are given a virtual representation of a Jenga tower, and you and several friends can take turns pulling bricks from the stack and placing them at the top of the structure, until it becomes structurally unsound and topples to the ground. This requires great precision. The Wiimote does not deliver this.
The game utilizes my least favorite Wiimote motion, which is pulling back. Pulling back with the controller feels unnatural, is uncomfortable, and pretty much guarantees you can't play the game sitting down against something.
While the developers have really tried hard to mix up the Jenga formula, all the innovative environments, level hazards, and physics changing block materials like ice won't change the fact that pulling blocks from a virtual tower is something that was only fun in late 80's movies depicting cyberspace. The devs did include a variety of mini-games that have nothing to do with Jenga whatsoever, which suggests to me that maybe they too realized that virtual Jenga just isn't fun.
