In order to be successful at Pop, Nnooo's 700 point WiiWare game, ignore the writers that insist that all you must do is pop bubbles. Sure, that's the simple explanation, but there's more to this game than just pointing your remote at the screen and rapidly pressing A (or B). Look beneath the surface and you'll discover a competitive and mostly entertaining video game that's worth your time, at least until you achieve an acceptable position on the online leaderboard.

Pop is a game about bubbles. Lots of them. To earn points, you place the on-screen cursor on a bubble and press a button. Doing so not only improves your score, but also adds time to the clock, which always counts down, but there's more to keep in mind. First, the game displays bubbles of different colors and sizes. Small bubbles are worth more points, while large bubbles are worth more time. At any point during play, you can target a bubble and press and hold a button. Doing so allows you to latch onto it. From there, shaking the remote up and down pumps the bubble up until it explodes, taking out bubbles of the same color within the vicinity. This is a great way to get points, but you must beware the bubbles with skulls inside them. If they break, you lose time, so you need to pay close attention to what the popular color is (more red bubbles on screen versus less yellow ones) as well as the number of skulls. Pumping up a red bubble and letting it explode when there are numerous "infected" red bubbles on screen is bad news.

So is missing a bubble, which results in a huge loss of time. This proves critical in later stages, when there are less large bubbles and the game moves at a much faster pace. Fortunately, some power-ups help, in particular, the bubbles with the swirls inside, which temporarily slow things down when popped.

Pop features both Normal and Advanced modes of play, as well as multiplayer for up to four people, where each person attempts to outscore the competition. There's no online play, but there are online leaderboards, and they help add replay value. Even we stopped playing Grand Theft Auto IV to earn a better ranking. It's addictive.

Although it has slim pickings, Pop's enjoyable for a little while. With that said, repeatedly pressing A gets old real quick, and after a while, the thought of being number one in the world loses its luster. We don't expect to play this game for more than a month, but for 700 points ($7), it's a fun diversion.

Related Links

Pop Game Guide