An extract from the WiiWare World review of The Incredible Maze:
"The idea is so simple in concept that it's hard to believe the developers managed to screw it up so severely. Using either the Wii Remote or the Balance Board to carefully tilt the stage, you merely attempt to direct a marble through a variety of mazes to reach the goal. Unfortunately even this most basic function is flawed. The Wii Remote controls are downright atrocious due to twitchy, unforgiving sensitivity. Fortunately, the Balance Board is much more serviceable thanks to less finicky (yet still unstable) tilting controls. Additionally, flicking the Wii Remote or pressing A while standing on the Balance Board causes the marble to jump, but this mechanic is so inconsistent that we have to wonder why they even bothered to add it in. On the occasions where jumping actually works to your benefit it undermines the whole maze concept because you are just able to jump a few walls en route to an easy goal. So what we're left with is a game that is practically unplayable with a Wii Remote alone and otherwise moderately broken.
For what it's worth there is a modest selection of levels. However, even if the gameplay was sound this collection of poorly-designed stages wouldn't be worth the trouble. Part of the problem is that they are haphazardly strung together with little consideration for difficulty progression, resulting in a game that wildly jumps from ridiculously easy to seemingly impossible before abruptly screeching to a halt after the 30th stage. At that point you'll unlock a Time Attack mode which challenges the player to use efficient jumping to complete the stages in a given time, but since jumping is so unreliable it is hardly worth the bother."
Each week MyWii reviews a selection of WiiWare games available on the Wii Shop Channel. These include the new release titles from the previous week and a mix of older ones. WiiWare reviews are kept short, sharp and to the point to best advise you what is worth your hard earned Nintendo Points.
Todays reviews include Tetris Party, Home Sweet Home, The Incredible Maze and more.
Gaming Target writes: "The Wii is a prime platform for the twitch, maze-running titles that have been conspicuously absent since shortly after the console launched. Sega started the Wii's life off well with the third console title in the Super Monkey Ball franchise, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. While the title's campaign mode was enjoyable, Sega dropped some of the best multiplayer aspects in an effort to include a horde of less fleshed-out minigames."
The Gamer's Temple writes: "Have you ever played with the puzzle toy that consists of a box with knobs on the side that are used to tilt the maze that forms the top of the box? I've seen it sold under a few names including Space Maze and Labyrinth, but the goal is always the same: to guide a small metal ball from the maze's start to its finish while avoiding the holes scattered throughout the maze. If you're familiar with this puzzle toy, then you know exactly what to expect from The Incredible Maze. The knobs on the side of the box have been replaced with the Wii Remote, and tilting the Remote will tilt the maze in the corresponding direction and the ball will begin to roll. If you've never seen the toy, well, you now know pretty much all there is to know about it. It's a pretty simple toy and The Incredible Maze is a pretty simple game."
