Trivia and party games are all the rage right now, especially on the Wii, a platform built for this style of gameplay.
Smarty Pants is Electronic Arts’ attempt to cash in on the simpler-is-better phenomenon, taking an aside from the complexity and multiple playing styles of Madden and Medal of Honor.
And the game isn’t half bad. Just maybe a third or so.
Smarty Pants allows up to four players to compete in age-targeted trivia, making the game ideal for little kids, college parties and families alike. (And that’s what the Wii does. When in history did you ever think the fraternity guys would sit around the keg playing video game bowling???)
The problem is the game is almost too simple. When you see a $50 EA title, you expect 100 ways to play the game, career modes, challenges, custom characters, etc. What Smarty Pants does do is provide 20,000 different questions and an addictive party game atmosphere. In a holiday season chock full of worthless minigame collections, EA made one game and made it right.
The graphics suck, but it’s a Wii title, so nobody cares about the graphics.
Smarty Pants is a better bet when you can find it used on Ebay, but if you’re itching for bar trivia, or your kid just has to have every, single Wii game, you could do worse.
Quick hits:
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts
Platform: Wii
Genre: Trivia
Players: 1-4
Launch Date: November 13, 2007
Playability: [rating:3/5]
Learning Curve: [rating:5/5]
Sound: [rating:3/5]
Graphics: [rating:2.5]
Overall: [rating:3/5]
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