Call me old fashioned but I've always enjoyed Tetris. There's something mesmerising about those coloured blocks that can keep me occupied for hours. I've been waiting for a Wii version ever since I first got the console so Hudson's latest offering, Tetris Party, was a welcome addition to my collection.

First the good. Yes, it is a more 'cutesy' looking version than the original arcade game and at starting levels, it really does seem a bit slow but once you get beyond level 10 things do hot up and you'll find yourself sweating to keep up. Playing against the console is also great fun and you'll find yourself taking great pleasure in clearing lines that are then passed over to your opponent's matrix. There are also a few variations to the original Tetris such as Field Climber, Shadow and Stage Racer but I personally didn't find them to be particularly exciting.

Where this game really comes into its own is in multi-player mode, hence the Party in Tetris Party. In Battle mode up to 4 players each get their own matrix which you try to clear in the usual way, with cleared lines passed over to your opponents. In addition, you can collect 'items' which you can use against your opponents to temporarily freeze their tetrominoes or even blank their screens - it's loads of fun.

Now for the not so good. Balance board support in this game is what I would call 'dumbed down' Tetris. Obviously it's single player only or versus the console but it uses much bigger 'kiddie size' tetrominoes which makes it far less challenging. You control your blocks by leaning left or right, forward or back to drop and use a squating motion to rotate right. I found these controls to be a bit finicky and maybe I was just being impatient but after a short while I just got frustrated and went back to using the Wiimote.

So the bottom line is, if you enjoy Tetris then this game won't dissappoint. It's a fun new take on an old classic and is especially fun in multi-player mode. If you were hoping this game would give you reason to dust off your balance board I'd have to say don't bother - there are better balance board games available now.

Things have been a bit quite on the new balance board games front since E3 but now it's good news as previous rumours are confirmed - Hudson Soft is bringing Tetris to the Wii in the the form of Tetris Party, and this Wiiware title will include balance board support.

I've always liked Tetris and I would most probably buy Tetris Party even if it didn't support the Wiiboard, so having balance board support is a real bonus. By the looks of things Hudson has really done a good job of updating this old classic and introduced 18 game modes including:

• Versus Battle Mode for 4 local players
• Wi-Fi Battle Mode for up to 6 players
• Duel Mode
• Marathon Mode
• Balance Marathon Mode

Tetris Party is scheduled for release this Fall and there is an official site with screenshots at www.tetrisparty.com.

With WiiWare opening up a whole new world of channels for the Wii console, it was only a matter of time until there was talk of Wii Balance Board support.

It looks like Hudson Entertainment is first off the mark. In a recent interview on Siliconera, Kentaro Murayama, Hudson Entertainment’s Executive Vice President in Japan had this to say about Tetris for WiiWare:

"It features a number of new rules and items. Currently, we’re tossing around the idea of using the Balance Board."

Ok, not exactly cast in stone but it's a start and you can be sure that if Hudson are considering it, other WiiWare developers are too.