Nintendo Wii Fanboy

One of the stranger games that's currently offered on WiiWare is Critter Round-Up, or Saku Saku Animal Panic in Japan. Knowing that this was created by a relatively new developer, Epicenter Studios, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Never one to turn down the possibility of a good puzzle game, though, I bravely endeavored to corral these critters to the best of my abilities.

With another costly puzzle game lurking around the corner, would Critter Round-Up turn out to be worth the download? Keep reading to find out!

In all our excitement over the likes of My Life as a King, Dr. Mario, and Star Soldier R, we've barely found the time to discuss cutesy animal-based puzzler Saku Saku Animal Panic. That's a shame, because a Konami press release has now confirmed that the title will be released as part of the U.S. WiiWare launch line-up on May 12th (as Critter Round-Up), and it sounds like this could be more than a fun distraction.

Critter Round-Up has players segregating animals into groups by laying down fences, but there are other factors involved, namely avoiding aggressive animals who might attack you, and preventing the animals from chomping each other (for example, you wouldn't want to create a crocodile-and-chicken pen). Successfully sorting the wildlife into like groups (within a time limit) is the key to victory, and there's 50 levels of fencin' and segregatin' to plow through.

Also in the Konami WiiWare pipeline: a sandcastle-building sim currently known as Fresco Beach. That would take this blogger back to his childhood, if much of his childhood wasn't spent in Blackpool, next to the worst beaches in the world.