If you’ve never played Boom Blox, think of it as Jenga’s evil twin — they look similar, but beneath their blocky facades, a rigid dichotomy divides the two.

Indeed, Electronic Arts’ celebration of virtual destruction is the antithesis of Hasbro’s traditional wooden puzzler. While Jenga emphasizes patience and deliberation, Boom Blox behaves like a tiny devil perched upon the shoulder, mischievously insisting it’s okay to throw baseballs at wobbly block towers. A year has passed since it first charmed us with its simulated calamity, but Boom Blox is back with more tricks and, as if encouraging utter devastation weren’t enough, an iniquitous new message for gamers’ malleable minds.

Smash everything you can, and this time, spread the carnage online.

A follow-up to the acclaimed 2008 original, Boom Blox Bash Party is much more an expansion than a sequel. EA hasn’t tampered with the prosperous formula that made the first Boom Blox a success — the core gameplay of the original has been brought to Bash Party with minimal tweaking, but where the game separates itself from its precursor lies its biggest selling point.

Bash Party embraces user-generated content and online sharing in a huge way, creating an enthusiastic community of architects unrivaled on Wii.

Before you build, however, you’ll want to destroy, and with Bash Party, it’s never been more fun to do so. The Boom Blox premise is simple, and Bash Party keeps it that way — each level presents a deliberately designed pile of blocks and a specific objective for players to accomplish with tools ranging from baseballs and bowling balls to, yes, virus-filled biological weapons. Armed before an unsteady heap of blocks, chaos generally ensues. Some levels require you to hurl baseballs like Nolan Ryan. Sometimes you’ll use a slingshot to send blocks soaring into the sky. However the levels require it, achieving your destructive objectives is always a blast, no pun intended.

As simple as the premise may be, it’s also a stroke of gaming genius. Like Boom Blox before it, Bash Party is instantly accessible — just grab a remote, heave some balls and bring the blocks crumbling down. Casual players can jump into the game with ease, and veteran gamers will relish in deciphering the strategies required to achieve goals in as few turns as possible. Forgive the tired marketing cliche, but Bash Party really is a game for everyone.

Much of the game’s wide appeal is due to its fantastic, intuitive use of the innovative Wii remote. As often is the case, simply pointing to aim in Bash Party is a precise change from the dual-analog doldrums. As rarely is the case, however, the game also makes exemplary use of motion controls.

To throw, simply gesture a heave with the remote. The harder you pitch, the more force you’ll have behind your throw, and it works extremely well.

The gaming industry is obsessed with the prospect of motion control, but apart from the upper echelon of Wii software, an overwhelming majority of games haven’t been able to implement gesturing well at all. Such is not the case with Bash Party—like Wii Sports, it’s one of the few Wii games you’ll play with gestures and motion, actually throwing instead of just waggling.

It feels fantastic, and it just couldn’t be done on another platform.

Complementing the terrific motion controls, Bash Party utilizes real-world physics that make the gameplay even more enjoyable and strategic. During the game, the physics force players to think about Bash Party’s puzzles and their decisions therein in terms of real consequences, contemplating what might happen if you hit a block at a certain angle with a certain velocity. The original Boom Blox also had impressive physics, but Bash Party takes the concept further, introducing underwater and outer space levels in which the physics are wildly different and force you to reevaluate your decisions, achievements as technically impressive as they are fun to experience.

Speaking of achievements, Bash Party takes a note from other current-generation consoles by implementing an achievements system, rewarding players for completing tasks such as collecting medals, causing explosions and more. Also new to Boom Blox, Bash Party features a currency system that allows players to purchase items or levels without unlocking them.

For casual players, in particular, this is an excellent addition. If you’re stuck on a difficult puzzle and can’t unlock the next one, the game will ask if you’d like to simply purchase it with the cash you’ve earned in-game instead. It may sound cheap, but rest assured, some of these puzzles are tough. EA has improved upon the original Boom Blox with these additions and cool new twists, but the biggest improvement is undoubtedly the online content. Quite simply, there isn’t much else like it on Wii.

Bash Party has a level editor similar to that of the original Boom Blox, but this time, EA went deeper than Jerry Springer’s final thought — the result is a feature-rich new level editor that allows a greater level of customization than even the most passionate Boom Blox aficionado could possibly imagine. All of the game’s blocks, items, locations and more are available, affording creative players the ability to make incredible levels with meticulous detail. The best part of this feature, however, is its slick online functionality. After building a level, players can easily upload their masterpiece to EA’s servers, making it available for other Bash Party fanatics to download and destroy. If architecture isn’t your strongest talent, the service is still useful, as you can download other players’ crazy concoctions virtually any time you’d like. 

It’s a great addition, and it’s been seamlessly implemented. While playing through a group of underwater levels in Bash Party, for example, the option to download more underwater levels, as created by other players, is only a click away—you’re connected to EA’s server with a simple button press. Alongside its 400-plus levels, the level editor and user-generated content ensure Bash Party has infinite, almost Smash Bros.-like replay value.

Of course, the game isn’t quite perfect. Its blocky graphics — again, no pun intended — are mostly dull-looking relics of the GameCube era, and as one might expect from such a conservative sequel, much of the innovation and exciting newness the original Boom Blox bled has dried up in Bash Party. Once you start throwing fastballs, however, those criticisms crumble to the ground faster than a shaky heap of blocks. Bash Party is an absolute riot.

Talk of motion-controlled gaming revolutions built lofty expectations for Wii, promises that have gone mostly undelivered as the cloud-born fantasies of 2006 have fallen to the ground of 2009’s realities — the Wii Remote just isn’t the accurate magic wand we thought it would be. Indeed, many developers have embraced waggle or avoided motion control altogether, proclaiming through a lack of innovation that, indeed, the revolution is dead.

EA must’ve missed that memo. Boom Blox Bash Party is proof.

Gameplay: 8.5
Throwing objects feels fantastic in Bash Party. Like Wii Sports, this is one of the few Wii games you’ll play with actual motion and not pointless waggle.

Graphics: 6.5
Given the game’s impressive physics and Wii’s relative lack of power, it isn’t surprising Bash Party’s visuals underwhelm. Its graphics are mostly blocky, dull reminders of the GameCube, but it does look nicer than the original.

Sound: 7.0
The soundtrack is a collection of standard background fare, but particularly if you’re playing with friends, you won’t notice it above the hysterical laughter.

Difficulty: Medium
Pardon the horridly overused cliche, but Bash Party is a game for everyone. Novice gamers can focus on carefree destruction, but the game has enough depth, strategy and gradual challenge to hook experienced players, as well.

Concept: 9.0
Boom Blox was a stroke of gaming genius. Bash Party is even better.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Whether playing the game’s addictive cooperative and versus multiplayer or simply passing the controller around the room, Bash Party is aptly named. 

Overall: 8.5
The list of must-have Wii games with appeal for both the casual and core player is exceedingly short. To make the cut, a game must be immediately approachable and easy to understand, but it must also offer challenge and depth to those who seek them. Boom Blox Bash Party is atop that list.