The decision to bring the Pushmo franchise to home consoles was an interesting one. After two well-received iterations on the 3DS (Pushmo and Crashmo), the series has jumped to the Wii U eShop with Pushmo World. While it’s still a great game, the new platform seems like an odd choice.
Pushmo World is fundamentally a puzzle game, but it’s unique in its use of platforming. It’s not a puzzle-platformer in the vein of something like Braid or Limbo; each level consists of a number of blocks than can be pushed in and pulled out. Rather than directly interacting with the blocks, you control a cute little chubby thing named Mallo that can grab onto the blocks and maneuver them to make platforms. Then you jump up and around and maneuver some more, eventually reaching a tiny child-thing that is stuck at the top that is your goal.
It sounds more complicated than it is, and once you get your hands on it you’ll likely grasp its basics almost immediately. In fact, you’ll start ignoring the tutorials after the first or second one, just trying to get to the real stuff. Even additional elements like switches and ladders don’t require any explanation: you’ll understand as soon as you use them. But as the levels get bigger and more complicated, it does become harder to keep track of everything.
To get a better view, you can press the right shoulder button (pressing the left rewinds time), which widens the field of view and shows the entire puzzle at once. This seems like a missed opportunity for expanded use of the Gamepad. When Mutant Mudds was brought to the Wii U in its Deluxe form, it took advantage of the difference in screen sizes to give different views of the game. The TV showed a wider view, giving a larger sense of the level, while the Gamepad was more zoomed in. It was a nice effect, and a useful one. (The DS port of the platformer N+ did something similar). The 6” screen of the gamepad is more than enough to see what you need to see in Pushmo World, and I rarely found myself looking at the TV. Heck, I rarely even turned the TV on when I was playing. Having a constant view of the whole puzzle on the larger screen would have been a great way to leverage the extra space. As it is, the TV is largely irrelevant.
And that points to the big question that Pushmo World leaves: do puzzle games of this sort really have a place on consoles? Puzzle games have always been perfect for handhelds. The rise of smartphones has seen a resurgence in excellent and interesting puzzle games. While Pushmo wouldn’t work on a smartphone, its placement on the 3DS was – and is – ideal. You don’t play Pushmo World for hours on end. You pick it up, do a puzzle or two, and then go onto the next thing in your life.
With the addition of the quick start menu on the Wii U, getting into Pushmo World is easier, but it’s still a long process. From the press of the power button through the loading screens and into the point where you finally have some control is just under 45 seconds (I timed it). It’s much better than it used to be, but just try to imagine a smartphone game taking 45 seconds to get into. Sure, given how long it takes a smartphone to cold boot that might not be a fair comparison, but who turns off their smartphone? From the Wii U menu, it still takes about 25 seconds to finally take get into Pushmo World.
Exactly zero people would play an iPhone game that takes that long to get into. From your locked phone in your pocket, you can get into Flow or Threes or whatever in ten seconds flat, even if you have a passcode enabled. A 3DS may not be quite so instantaneous, but it’s the kind of thing you leave on standby and just get into. The PS4 and Xbox One have standby modes as well, but the Wii U does not. Anytime you want to get into Pushmo World, you’re going to have to wait. Load times are more acceptable on a couch than they are on a handheld (even if the Gamepad feels like a handheld), but games of this sort thrive on immediacy. You’re in, you’re out, and you’re done. You do a puzzle, then check your email; not check your email while you’re waiting for the puzzle game to boot up.
But maybe Pushmo World is for the people who have Nintendo’s newest console but not their handheld, people who have missed out on the chance to play the Pushmo franchise in the past. For those people, this is a great time to get acquainted; but it will probably just make them want to get a 3DS and play the game on the go.
Even so, Pushmo World still comes highly recommended. It’s a unique type of puzzle game, slower and more methodical thanks to addition of an extra character to control. Mixed with the platforming elements, this all adds up to something that really stands out. With more than 200 puzzles built in and easy access to new levels made by the Miiverse community, there is a plethora of content. The $10 price tag is easily justified, even in a world of $1 (or free) smartphone puzzlers.
Pushmo World is fun, it’s challenging, and it’s cute - really, the three things that Nintendo has built its reputation on. As one of the few new franchises to come out of the company in recent years, it’s really a game to be celebrated and enjoyed, platform be damned.
