Worms Blast can’t help but be compared to Taito’s Bust-A-Move series of games that has inspired so many “me-too” and copycat games over the last decade. In Blast, you are to destroy colored blocks that reside next to each other on the screen. You control your favorite Worm character in a raft with a row and are given the task at destroying the colored blocks within the time limit. Along the way you will be tossed stars that lower the water level, rainbow blocks that will change to reflect the color destroyed around them and poison blocks that are essentially death, not to mention the pink bouncy blocks.

While the series is known for its turn based strategy elements, you won’t find too much of that here. Blast is really a puzzle game where geometry and power come into play more than strategy and planning five moves ahead. The game itself throws you into the main puzzle mode that has you floating from island to island on a world map taking different tasks at destroying the colored blocks. The catch is that you have to destroy the color that is appearing around your gun at the bottom of the screen. If you miss everything, a refrigerator, safe or other heavy blunt object will pummel you on the head. Hit the wrong color block, and those affected turn into the color you thought they were and you are given the next color to hit. Having something dropped on your head won’t only bring down your personal self-esteem, but your character’s life as well.

When you have just one color left and you keep getting colors on your gun that you have already destroyed, it becomes somewhat frustrating. So you can sit back and wait for that color to come by admiring the colorful, cartoon backgrounds that surround you. Those familiar with the series will recognize the significant style that permeates every one of the Worms games; this one is no exception. The menu system is easy to make your way through and very well designed. The music is cheery and colorful and keeps you in the mood for some puzzle action.

You are given a few different choices on how to play. You can go through the aforementioned Puzzle Mode, which is the bulk of the game; you can play through select mini-games like shooting targets or the standard block destructor; or you can play the split screen mode against either another human opponent or the computer. More than likely, the puzzle and versus modes against another human will take up a majority of your time.

Even with everything described above -- the colorful backgrounds, the different play modes, and the Worms name on the box -- Worms Blast just isn’t that fun. It is very hard to describe, but once you actually get into the game and see that it isn’t the Worms that you are used to, you become disenchanted with the whole game. The standard Bust-A-Move like gameplay doesn’t help to bring you out of that feeling. Knowing that this is a Worms game from the development team that has stole so many hours of our lives make it extremely hard to say the game isn’t very fun, but it is true.

I think it is nice to see developers and publishers trying to bring characters into different games, but this one just seems like the Worms name was added to capitalize on the franchise and hopefully drive in a few more sales. I must say that seeing our favorite Worms in 3D for the first time was a great experience, but if they were replaced with a cast of badgers it would still be the same game and the same experience. Worms Blast stands as an OK puzzle game in its own right, because of the Bust-A-Move influence, but as a game in the Worms series, it is mediocre at best. I can only hope that Team17 returns the game to the turn based strategy roots and I can get my ninja-rope action on once again.