Adventure mode is a bit more harried, as you will spend most missions trying to get your on-screen characters from Point A to Point B in as little time as possible. Of course, you don’t directly control the creatures: they merely amble toward their goal and you have to clear the path of blox or enemies looking to impede them. This mode also features some “defense” missions where you are tasked with protecting your team from baddies who throw bombs or break through blox, and some of the levels can get quite tense. The second-to-last mission in the last level sticks in my mind as especially stressful, as you literally have enemies coming in from all sides and nothing but a baseball and a few blox to protect you.

One thing that I noticed in both modes was a relentless drive to succeed. Each successful mission results in the awarding of a bronze, silver, or gold medal, and I found myself constantly retrying challenges simply to better my score. “One more try” turned into ten, and I would often look up at the clock, shocked by the realization that I had been playing for hours and hadn’t even noticed. The challenges in Boom Blox can be difficult, but they are never frustrating, and you always feel that you’re this close to getting it right and scoring the gold medal you were after. This is the sort of game you’ll come back to again and again; getting tired of it simply isn’t in the equation.

One reason the game is so immersive, and therefore fun, is the implementation of a near-perfect control scheme. In a standard level where you are throwing balls at towers, you first line up your shot by rotating your camera (used either by manipulating the control stick on the Nunchuck or holding the B button), and then once you have your angle you simply hold down A and make a flicking motion with the Wiimote. The speed of your flick will determine the strength of your toss, with throws falling into the light, medium, or strong category. While it can be tempting to throw with all your might, there are many occasions where discretion is the better part of valor, and you must use a gentle touch to nudge a piece away from danger without knocking off a penalty block, upsetting another piece that is precariously balanced nearby.

This precision also translates into the “grabbing” tool, which you use to yank blox out of rickety towers. Often times, you’ll want to jerk pieces out quickly in the hopes of minimizing damage, but this carries with it the danger of accidentally bumping other pieces, which at such high speeds can spell disaster. Indeed, sometimes you will find yourself carefully poking and cajoling out particularly critical pieces, being ever so diligent to not slip even the slightest. It can be a tense experience, but it’s truly tense in the best sense of the word.