More fun at Bash Party

One year ago, the partnership between renowned filmmaker Steven Spielberg and video game producer Electronic Arts bore fruit with Boom Blox. The game was simple yet insanely addictive: Throw a ball and knock down the blocks.

Colorful characters, perfect controls and a variety of shapes to mess up made it one of the best games of last year.

The just-released sequel, Boom Blox Bash Party, is another must-have for Wii owners everywhere.

With more than 400 new levels to play and a variety of new items to use to destroy the structures (such as the virus ball that causes some blocks to get sick and explode), Bash Party manages to take the fun up a few notches by adding other enhancements.

For one, the multiplayer mode is updated with a co-op outing to go along with the versus modes. Now, in addition to competing against a friend, you can team up to smash the stack and score the Boom Bux (currency that lets you unlock levels that have you stumped).

Also, the level editor has been updated to allow you to edit all of the boards included in the game or to create your own from scratch. (An Internet connection allows you to download new levels created by both EA and other gamers, offering an endless amount of value.)

Add that to the wonderfully varied theme-park like environments where the action takes place (like outer space and under the sea) and you’ve got another runaway hit.

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Grade: A+ (nearly flawless in every way)

Details: Nintendo Wii platform; $39.99; rated Everyone (cartoon violence)

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Racing shifts into a wildly fun gear

Multitasking doesn’t get more fun -- or more addictive -- than in the newest racer for the Wii, Excitebots: Trick Racing.

Besides racing a mechanical insect or animal-shaped vehicle across tracks (most with at least one spectacular jump), you are expected to garner enough stars to move on to the next track. For the most part, stars are acquired by pulling off tricks while racing.

Excitebots gives racers the chance to earn bonuses by driving their car through a set of bowling pins or bumping a soccer ball into a goal during the race. It’s crazy, intense fun.

Perhaps the best segment of Excitebots involves the poker races. Gamers drive their vehicles around a track and choose the cards they need (by driving through five choices) to complete a good poker hand. Score your straight and then a new set of cards is dealt, which means more thinking while driving and more excitement.

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Grade: A (awesome new spins on a racing game)

Details: Nintendo Wii platform; $59.99; rated Everyone (mild fantasy violence)

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A punch that’s right on the mark

Punch-Out!, one of the greatest games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, gets perfectly updated in a Wii release yet still keeps its retro charms.

Many of the great characters from the first incarnation, released in 1987 as “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out,” make appearances here. Boxers such as Bear Hugger, Von Kaiser and Don Flamenco get a colorful, cell-shaded, 3-D visual update both charming and fun. (Sadly, Mario’s days as the ref are over. A new Cesar Millan-looking fellow keeps peace in the ring.)

As is the case with most games released for the Wii from Nintendo these days, the game can be played using a variety of control schemes; there’s the old-school directional pad way that mimics NES’ original controller layout or there’s the really exciting (yet tiring) way of punching with the Wii remotes. (The Wii balance board can even be used to help with some advanced defensive moves.)

Unlike the last go-round, this version packs a multiplayer mode that allows you to go head to head with a buddy via a split screen.

Welcome back, Little Mac. It’s good to see you again.

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Grade: A (perfect update)

Details: Nintendo Wii platform; $49.99; rated Everyone 10+ (cartoon violence, comic mischief)

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Lousy controls deal a blow

The simplicity of the sweet science is absolutely ruined in Don King Boxing for Wii. This is one boxing title that goes down for the count, and quick.

The controls require you to push the Wii remote in an exact motion to throw a certain kind of punch or to block and are so unforgiving that the slightest variation from the motion causes the punch to fail. After a while, this gets mind-numbingly frustrating.

A decent attempt is made to create a through-line story about the rise of “The Kid” using documentary-like live-action footage, but that too fails because of the acting.

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Grade: D- (unless you actually like to be frustrated by shoddy controls, don’t bother)

Details: Nintendo Wii and DS platforms; $39.99 to $19.99; rated Teen (mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes, tobacco reference, violence).

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Just an assault on your time

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is as thrilling as star and creator Vin Diesel is likable: not a whole lot. For a first-person shooter, there isn’t much to shoot.

Dark Athena is limited in nearly every way; from the cliche-ridden dialogue to the equally poor voice acting to the sorrowful graphical qualities to the stiff controls. Using Riddick’s eye powers to see in the dark, gamers battle their way through the decks of the mercenary ship the Dark Athena.

Yawn.

About the only redeeming quality to this title is that the game it was based on, 2004’s Escape from Butcher Bay, comes included on the same disc in “re-imagined” high-definition format. But playing even the first few levels of the vastly superior Butcher Bay helps reinforce what a colossal waste of time Dark Athena is.

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Grade: D+ (only because it’s like getting two games in one)

Details: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms; $59.99; rated Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, sexual content, strong language)

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