We’d go so far as to say that you can’t really go wrong with the 2D formula for Worms. It was fun to play back in 1995 when the Worms phenomenon was first unleashed on the public and it’s still fun now, although any novelty value has long since worn off. So our Worms: A Space Oddity review isn’t really about the basic gameplay – we know that’s good – it’s all the bells and whistles that Team 17 has added, and anything that it’s tailored specifically for the Wii. We’re pleased to say there’s a fair bit of that too.

This is the Worms series’ debut on the Wii, so let’s pretend that for the next paragraph you’re new to videogames or that you’ve been closing your eyes and shouting "LALALA!!" whenever a friend mentioned their latest Team 17 game, for the last 13 years. Worms is a turn-based strategy game that sets teams of worms (usually two teams of four individuals) against each other in a cross-section of a map. Not only do you take turns to shoot a massive variety of weapons with different controls and effects at each other, but you can only control each of your team members in rotation. Each worm has an allotted amount of health (100 hit points is the norm) with damage depending on the weapon type and proximity. If a worm falls off the map or into the water, that’s instant death. Simple, yes? That’s probably what made it so popular in the first place.

A Space Oddity doesn’t require the Nunchuk, but it does involve an enormous amount of Wii Remote waggling. Controlling your worm simply uses the D-pad for direction, A to jump and double-tap A for a back-flip, but all the Remote gubbins kicks in when you want to attack. While many of the weapons in the roster have been thinly disguised with a different graphic and sci-fi name, despite having the same effect, controlling them with the Remote is more than just a gimmick. Most of the time you’ll be using A Space Oddity’s equivalent of the rocket launcher, the impact frag, the controls for which are simple. Up and down on the D-pad controls trajectory, you wave your arm up and down to increase or decrease power, hold B to set the power then flick the Remote forward and release B to shoot. This more interactive means of attacking in Worms means weapons such as the dropship and UFO (both are different types of air strike) are far more entertaining than they would be otherwise. We never thought we’d have more fun with the sheep in Worms, but the robo-sheep cracked a smile on our faces with its mechanical bleating – and its jump, controlled by flicking the Remote upwards, was far more tangible than tapping a space-bar or button. Getting precision on the power bar by waving our right arms around was far more fiddly than it’s ever been, however, which is as much to do with the position of the Remote Receiver as it is a flaw in the design of the game.

… continued