Smarty Pants
What with Christmas coming, the festival, family, holiday season well and truely upon us and the likes of Keith Chegwin and Alan Hansen swinging their weight around, the 'get together quiz' gaming catagory has come alive with fresh offerings to add to the growing pile of Buzz! games that some of us have grown to love (and others to hate, it has to be said).
Some quiz games go down the tried and tested avenue of providing a catagory for you to shriek at; sports, music, kids questions etc. Some prefer to present themselves as an all round general knowledge quest for the gold, and this is where EA's Smartypants can be found. For ages 3 and up though, the packaging alone should tell you that it's aimed at kids and their families. Or to put it another way, unless you've been to school in the last few years, you probably won't be smart enough to answer half the questions ... especially the ones about Harry Potter.
Developed by EA Los Angeles and Planet Moon Studios, the trivia game 'levels the playing field for friends and family, combining age-targeted trivia with action-based gestures, making it a truly trans-generational game for the Wii.' claims EA.
Simple is a good word to describe the bland screens and menus on Smartypants, which give off a very 'rushed feel' in that there's really not a lot going on. There are two main game modes, although only the multiplayer is worth spending any time on since the single player doesn't allow you to save any progress. You can bring your Mii into the fray when playing with friends or family, and the game does save your progress with good detail (how many questions you have ever got right in each section, such as music or sports). On single player mode, you can only use guest Miis.
It's a nice touch that entering your accurate age defines which questions the game will tend to fire at you, although we see a glaring assumption there; that you best know your own era. Take music, for example. Frankly there is no decent way to tell if someone of any age listens to a certain era of music. There are young kids coming up now who absolutely adore the 60/70/80s stuff, and this should be accounted for.
The main selling point of Smartypants over any other quiz game seems to be that whilst playing along, those who aren't answering questions are asked to perform various gestures with the Wiimote, such as jabbing forwards or waving the Wiimote. Perhaps I'm being boring or one-track minded, but this was really annoying. Just when you're trying to read the question that your friend has been given, you're suddenly asked to swing the remote around to give you more time. Why? What does this really add to the game play? I just found it stressful. The timer at the top sometimes felt a bit blocked by other things that are going on around it, which could be improved.
If you've got nothing better to do on Christmas day than play Wii with your whole family, then Smartypants has a pretty fair approach to bringing everyone together for a quiz, and plenty of fun for the younger ones. Just be aware though; it's bland, it's a bit frustrating in places and there isn't any one player challenge that saves your progress, so all you can do is practice on your own. We think Alan Hansen or Cheggers quiz games are worth a look above this one, but your kids will probably like it for a while.
Kim Kaze - 2/5
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