First of all, I was downright disappointed this wasn't a real Worms game. You know, blowing the crap out of each other with cute little night crawlers in turn-based combat. I love Worms. I think it's one of the coolest party games of all time. I used to play Worms on Dreamcast all the time with my high school buddies in my glory days. So when I heard I was going to review this title, right off I was spirited away (shameless anime plug) to my past. Crap. I was so wrong. Worms Blast is yet another rip-off of Bust-a-Move -- one of the most innovative puzzle games of our time. Screw Snood, that rat bastard ripped off that concept, Bust-a-Move was the start of that puzzle genre and once again it's been stolen. (Don't even get me started on that subject.)

Even though this is somewhat a redundant rendition of the previous aim-and-fire puzzle games, there are some elements that make this game interesting. The many crazy worms weapons that can be acquired make deathmatch more fun, and having the ability to move your character is pretty sweet. However, that is about the only charm that this game boasts.

The graphics are cartoony and fit the game very well. However, there really isn't much too them. (Not that there should be with a basic puzzle game.) However, these graphics and concepts were nailed roughly ten years ago. Call me crazy, but I’m a sucker for innovation, or at least a better version of an old game.

Gameplay is as follows: You are a worm in a boat. In that boat, you paddle around and launch your bazooka (with use of a power meter that can be set for how long you hold down the fire button) at colored fruit. When you hit the fruit with the corresponding color of your bazooka round, those fruit will fall. In the event that your bazooka round color does NOT match the fruit color, the fruit will turn the color of the bazooka round that was previously fired. I can hardly wait.

Team 17 figured out, "Hey, we have kind of a bland game on our hands here, in which we were unable to think of a new concept; we need to try and spice it up a bit." The key word in that sentence is "try". Since the Puzzle mode (the normal single player mode) is just filled with lame objectives that need to be fulfilled, and the Vs. modes (either against the computer or your friends) are nothing innovative (save for the weapons), I can't get up in arms about anything about this game. There just isn't enough substance in this game to keep you interested in playing. That doesn't necessarily make Worms Blast a bad game, it’s just a waste of time and money. (The PC version is $20 USD, GBA $30, GC $40.)

I have current DirectX drivers on my computer, so why did I have wire frame characters onscreen? That's right, my characters were filled in with their colors but the wire frame was over the top. Ew. That's just not right. And yes, I have a fine graphics card. (Not that you would need a good one to play this cartoon game.)

Worms Blast would have been a great game… six years ago. Now, it’s nothing groundbreaking, creative or innovative. Here is my advice: If you absolutely need a new puzzle game for PC and you love Bust-a-Move-esque games, then have at it. But other than that motive, I see no reason to really purchase this game. Once again, I wish that it was a rehash of the tried and true Worms formula, then at least I could blast the memory of playing this game out of my head.