They're in the closet. In the pantry. Even in the toilet. Yes, "elebits" are everywhere. Tiny electric creatures set loose during a thunderstorm, elebits hang out in strange places waiting to be swept up and put back to their proper use: turning things on. Now it's up to Kai, the son of two elebit scientists, to round up the ones in his own home. Lucky for him, he has his dad's "capture gun," an elebit-snaring tool that conveniently doubles as a gravity ray.
Much like its Konami cousin, Katamari Damacy, Elebits has a main story mode that works in timed levels. Players have to scour sets of room, check corners, and jiggle household items in search of hidden elebits. More elebits means more "wattage," which in turn gets used to turn on various appliances. The special electrified elebits that subsequently pop out let players throw around heavier and heavier objects.
Elebits makes great use of the Wii remote. It's especially fun to defy purpose or reason and just have a field day tossing things around with the capture gun. But the gravity physics can be hair-pullingly funky. And extra items (like the glowing, misty "cookie" that attracts love-struck elebits) which are supposed to smash when thrown against walls only bounce off like day-old hotdogs. All in all, even the most fun round of elebit-catching has its trials.
Beyond the game: Elebits' gameplay is as adorable and colorful as a tie-dyed puppy. By comparison, though, the storyline is bland, and the voice acting downright awful.
Worth playing for: The sadistic pleasure of absolutely wrecking a calm, comfortable, middle-class home. Vases smash, televisions tumble, children's toys rain from the sky.
Frustration sets in when: Maneuvering through tight spaces, like the inside of a cluttered house, can be a challenge. But the real must-stay-calm test of patience is doors and drawers, which, in Elebits' world, are a pain to open—and then close on their own.
Final judgment: Cuteness and destruction? For now, that'll have to be enough.