Game review - Rubik's World

I got a copy of Rubik's World. You'd think it might be aimed at hardcore fans of the '80s puzzle, but I don't see it holding any appeal for speedcubers. Seriously, how fast can you manipulate the onscreen cube with a Wii controller? The fact that there is a guide to solving the cube shows that it's actually more for beginners. Variations of the classic puzzle include making a solved cube match a mixed one and handling a 4x4x4 cube.

Those elements in themselves would be pretty lame--like playing Monopoly on a videogame instead of on a board--so a load of extra games are added. Their relationship to the actual cube is tenuous and limited to the inclusion of colored cubes, but a couple of them are actually pretty good. I like the one where you have three views of a cubic figure and you have to construct it in 3-D, kind of like an isometric drafting. There's also a nice puzzle game that fans of Tetris, Gems, or Bust-a-Move might like.

It's not a terrible collection of time killers, but in the end that's all they are. Not a great fit for the Wii--which is more of a social, interactive platform--but I am thinking that it would be a decent addition to any DS user's library.