Military Video Games, computer games - Air Force Times

Play classic Hasbro board games on the Wii

With Electronic Arts’ “Hasbro Family Game Night,” families and friends can play board games on the Nintendo Wii without ever cluttering up a tabletop. There are old time favorites Boggle, Connect Four, Yahtzee, Battleship and Sorry, as well as something new called Sorry Sliders.

So is this video game compilation as fun as playing these board games around the kitchen table? In some ways, yes, and in some ways, no. Here’s the scoop.

Games like Connect Four, Boggle and Yahtzee work well using the Wii remote. It is easy to point and click so that your colored checker drops into the Connect Four rack. Likewise, selecting letters to make words is simple in Boggle, and it is nice that the built-in dictionary lets you know right away whether you have spelled a word correctly. In Yahtzee, shaking the Wii remote as it vibrates is a remarkably satisfying way to simulate shaking the Yahtzee dice. And the game helps you decide which of the scoring combinations to select while it keeps score for you.

But games like Sorry and Battleship don’t fare so well. When playing Sorry, it is helpful to be able to study the board and count out squares before you move, and this virtual game board doesn’t provide you the visuals you need. Likewise, the virtual Battleship game is cumbersome because you have to zoom in to choose the point on the grid that you want to hit, wait through a repetitive graphic that rotates the board, see a dramatic hit on water, and then rotate back to see if you hit anything.

Where this compilation shines is its fun variations on the classic games. Each of the games can be played with one or two crazy variations. For example, while playing Connect Four, you can add Power Chips, which include chips that blow up others, ones that block you from playing above it, and chips that move an entire column down one space. And new to this game is Sorry Sliders, a sort of shuffle board-like game using part of the Sorry board.

Also fun is the Party mode, where you play in a tournament with up to three friends. With Mr. Potato Head as your host, you select the number of rounds of play (10, 20, or 30), and which of the games you want to play. In this mode, there are unique, short minigames based on the six board games, so you might be trying to match patterns on the Connect Four board, and sliding Sorry pieces through rows of pawns. It is fast-paced and creates a madcap vibe.

When considering whether to add this game to your Wii library, here are some of its pluses. You don’t have to worry about losing game parts, and you don’t have to buy and store each game. If you have a child who likes to play games, but can’t always find a playmate, this game provides instant competition (at different levels of competency) and support from Mr. Potato Head.

If you are a family who likes to play board games together and own a Wii, this is a fun option because of the Party mode and the crazy variations on the classic games. But if you really just like playing the traditional board games, then play them on the kitchen table.