PANDORA'S Tower is a late addition to the Wii library and benefits from what the developers have learned until this point. It is comfortable enough with the motion controls to not require them for everything and to use them well where it needs to.

GAME: PANDORA'S TOWER

SYSTEM: WII

PRICE: R499

AGE RESTRICTION: 12

The menus could easily have been driven via the motion controls, yet Nintendo wisely decided against that.

While it plays like a puzzle-based platformer, the game feels a lot more like a good JPRG. The developers made the right choice in keeping the protagonist mostly silent, as it means his character is delivered more through his body language than the spoken word.

The plot is essentially that Pandora has been cursed and it is up to you, her boyfriend, to cure her by feeding her the flesh of 13 "master" beasts.

This adds more creepiness to the story because if she is turning into a beast because of a curse, then the beasts she is eating to cure the curse may have been people once too.

Of course, just to make matters worse for her, she belongs to a religion that demands vegetarianism.

The curse has taken Pandora from honoured harvest maiden and paragon of her people's ideas of purity straight into a choice between implied cannibalism and turning into a horrifying monster.

Her disgust is not glossed over in the story; it is a part of her character arc and is well-executed.

There is a definite Japanese sensibility to the game, yet it remains relateable through how delicate its touch is.

The dating game elements keep it from descending into hack and slash. The deciding factor at the end of the game is your relationship with Pandora.

This is gaming comfort food - it won't knock your socks off, but it is good in a way that means it doesn't have to. In terms of the Wii's swansong, this isn't a bang or a whimper, but rather a bow.

THE GOOD

Solid platforming, good story-telling and excellent use of the system it is made for without falling into the trap of overusing the Wii's gimmicks.

THE BAD

It can come off as a bit of a throwback, and this isn't the game to go to for high-octane awesome. It is more of a tender goodbye than a last hoorah.

RATING: 8/10