Bejeweled 2 Review

Everyone and their mothers have played PopCap’s Bejeweled, though the mothers are likely the ones still playing it today. It’s a modern casual classic, a low-impact match-three puzzler that’s been ported around to every possible place — Internet sites, home consoles, portables — but hadn’t yet made it to the Wii in any form. Now, it has. The results are pretty much what you’d expect.

Bejeweled 2 on WiiWare offers the same, classic, easy-going gem-matching gameplay as always, as you control a little cursor or IR pointer with the Wii Remote to select shining diamonds and swap their positions, trying to line up three or more of the same color in either vertical or horizontal rows. It can be a quick game, if you make it that way. But mostly it’s played slow and simple, with little negative consequence leveled against you for taking your time, and automatic hint icons popping up if the game thinks you’re getting stuck.

It’s hard to consider this a real sequel, especially since the first game to be called Bejeweled 2 came out around six years ago now — but perhaps PopCap kept the numeral on this release to signify that this isn’t Bejeweled Twist or Bejeweled Blitz, the two more modern versions of the design. It’s disappointing to not get those revisions of the formula as options here, but the Classic, Action, Puzzle and Endless modes that are available should keep most fans happy.

And, as a bonus, Mii support’s included. So you can smash diamonds while your digital self looks on.

Closing Comments
So Bejeweled 2 on WiiWare offers only small surprises while keeping things centered on the same core gameplay that’s made its name so successful for nearly a decade now. If you (or your mother) have played it to death on other platforms, you’d be fine to pass by it here. But this is a fine version, and well worth the Wii Points for those who know exactly what they’ll be getting.