Written by Chuck Allen.
Neo Pets Puzzle Adventure for Wii is an adventure game that focuses on puzzles. The first thing you do in this game is to design your own Neopet. To do this you chose from a list of about 10 or so different species and then select the color and gender. Customization is limited as you only get a choice of six colors, but also it's more disappointing that you can’t choose what type of armor, clothes, or hair for your NeoPet.
Next you get to name your Neopet. But guess what? Customization is so limited on this as well that you can only chose from randomly generated names. This issue prevented a certain red dinosaur from receiving the prestigious name of Sir Argoth the Spine Ripper of the Bloody Lightning Death Tribe. In the end, the poor thing ended up with the name Sylba. After you make your Neopet, players can begin the main story. The premise is a bit lacking, as there is hardly any explanation at all. It’s just, “Hey welcome to this land! You should go here". Regardless of the intended demographic for this game, the story should be more interesting and engaging.
Next you are teleported to the map which functions as a simple point and click board. Before encountering your first battle, you are taken to a tutorial mode that briefly explains the rules of the puzzle game through which all battles take place. Long story short, the game works on a checkers like board where you place your coins to surround your enemies in order to win. The tutorial has you play through a few scenarios, but this is hindered greatly by the fact that the font of the text explaining it all is damn near impossible to read. My TV works fine and my eyesight is good, yet I had great difficulty in reading just what exactly the heck I was supposed to be doing.
After this, players jump into the first battle. However, the tutorial doesn’t even mention exactly how you win. You may have thought that you had to cover the board in a certain color of coins, but it turns out that there is a point system at the top of the screen that determines the winner. After more bland dialogue the second battle occurs. The second battle is where things get rather frustrating. The CPU opponent is relentless, failing to relinquish any chance at making a comeback. Challenging scenarios are always welcomed in games, but it's a bit much when the game is relentlessly difficult from the get-go. Furthermore, it turns out that there are other options that are have available to use during these puzzle fights that the game fails to sufficiently explain, such as the use of additional tile pieces on the board with different effects. However, even after trying these additional moves and maneuvers, the CPU still would whip out huge combos that would all but end the battle.
Moving away from game play, the presentation of the game is bland and lifeless. Your Neopet is animated on the map screen and will make odd cute-ish noises, but once a battle starts, you are treated to still images of your pet and your opponent. While the art style has a few redeeming qualities, in particular the color schemes used, the animation that does take place on the board is choppy and lags a great deal.
