Heron Steam: Machine, WiiWare Review

Dutch developers Triangle Studios have brought a pipe puzzler to the Wii that may remind some nostalgic gamers like myself of the Pipe Mania game that used to be included in a really old version of windows (I can’t remember which one, pre 95 perhaps?). This week I got my hands on the WiiWare version (you can get in on the iPhone too) and I’ve got to say I’m impressed. Is it simple? Yes. Is it addictive? Yes. Does it make me wonder why I spend so many hours playing intense 3D games which drain the national grid when a 2D puzzler can hold my attention for just as long? I’d have to say yes to that too.

The amusing flash intro tells us the story of Ron who comes into work one day only to find that the business (a rubber duck factory) has been handed over to the owner’s evil son. The evil son (a nasty rubber ducker) raises production targets and poor old Ron can’t keep up. It’s the player’s job to help maintain the pipes so baths everywhere don’t go duckless.

To help Ron you have to connect the coloured pipe on the left of the screen to the coloured pipe on the right of the screen. You start off with one pipe which you have to connect and after that one has gone more appear, so there will be an increasing number of pipes you have to plumb together to stop the machine from exploding. The longer you take to connect the pipes the higher the pressure gauge rises (a rubber duck sitting in a water filled chamber) and once it goes over that red marker, boom, game over. Your score is recorded on the high score table where Ron sits at the top with 1,000,000 points (I have a long way to go yet). The controls are simple, you can use the directional pad to move left, right, up or down, and 1 and 2 to rotate the pieces. You can also click on the piece of pipe you want to rotate and rotate it by twisting the Wiimote, though I found it easier to use 1 and 2.

Heron: Steam Machine includes a multiplayer mode for up to four players. In multiplayer the board is divided into sections for the number of people playing, so say you had two people playing, each player controls the pipes on their side of the board, and they have to co-ordinate their efforts so they can meet in the middle. This is really a co-operative multiplayer, but it’s still a lot of fun it provides even more of a challenge than the single player mode.

All in all a great WiiWare title that only costs 500 Points. It's simple but addictive fun which will keep you amused for hours and has enough appeal to keep you returning, though only the super-dextrous will be able to reach that elusive top spot.