EA's Smarty Pants for the Nintendo Wii is a trivia game, but its inflated price tag, lack of personality and lame mini-games will make you feel dumbfounded.

Chose on of three modes -- Solo, Family and Friends – to get started. Solo consists of a barrage of quick questions within a time limit, and it's the least fun of the three. Family is a cooperative multiplayer affair, where you work together to answer questions within the allowed time limit. The real fun, though, is in Friends mode, where you compete against each other to get the most points.

Nobody likes a smarty pants. Click to see more screens.

Smarty Pants does have a few advantages over competing trivia games. First, you can include your Mii in the game. It's nice to see a non-Nintendo game include this for a change. Second, enter your birth date, the game automatically assigns questions based on your age group. The game also packs in 20,000 trivia questions. We played through the game several times and found very few repeats -- a huge plus for any trivia game.

Overall, Smarty Pants' presentation doesn't leave a lasting impression. The graphics look unsophisticated, with easy-to-read screens and the occasional picture haphazardly tossed in with questions.

The game tries to mix things up, letting players use cards that will either slow or enhance game performance. On occasion, you'll get involved in a lame shooting gallery contest with other players, where the luck of the draw wins the round. What's even worse, though, is the Double Points Dance. You actually have to get up and dance to get more points on the board. It sounds like fun, but it isn't. You look more like a doofus than a "smarty pants."

Really, though, the most inexcusable thing about Smarty Pants is the $50 price. A game such as this would certainly sell better around the $20 to $30 range.

If more work went into the game's presentation and variety of activities, Smarty Pants could have been an outstanding party game for Wii. Instead, it's a missed opportunity. If you're too tired to set up the Trivial Pursuit board game, it's worth a look. Otherwise, leave these Pants on the rack and get something better suited for your pleasure.

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Smarty Pants Game Guide

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