Games

Intelligent Systems' Pushmo World (known as Pullblox World in Europe) is exactly what you'd expect it to be: a Wii U sequel to the popular 3DS eShop puzzle titles Pushmo (Pullblox) and Crashmo (Fallblox) that predictably adds shinier graphics, more modes, and way more puzzles. It's a very safe sequel that doesn't take many risks with the Pushmo formula, but high production values and always-clever puzzle designs keep it from feeling too stale. If you've never played the series, the puzzle-platforming concept is simple; as a sumo wrestling blob named Mallo – unfortunately not to be confused with Super Mario RPG's Mallow – you push and pull blocks to traverse block towers and save the children trapped inside. Since the blocks are different colours and aligned in a grid, often the puzzles are shaped like fun pixel art; there are no enemies or time limits, so it's a laid-back formula that lets you solve puzzles at your leisure. As the game progresses special gadgets are introduced like manholes that let you teleport between faraway areas in the puzzle, and "pullout switches" that automatically pull out every block of a specific colour. One of the few new additions is the "pushback switch," a natural counterpart to the pullout switch that pushes the blocks of a given colour back to their starting positions.