DeVuego BD

Yes, one could consider Penguins & Friends a deal when comparing it to the actual board game, of which the deluxe (and now only) version costs over four times as much. Yet, at the same time, the board game has a much better portability factor and allows for more flexibility. Ultimately, Penguins & Friends does provide for fun with friends even with its slight drawbacks, but we can't help but feeling that you may be better served sticking to the table-top version.

Maybe that's why board game conversions have found more of a home over on Xbox's Live Arcade service -- there's just more effort put into them there. WiiWare developers have got to learn that players want more than the bare minimum here, especially when the system's capable of more. Give us higher end visuals -- the Wii can handle it. Give us the ability to play against opponents who aren't in the same living room with us -- again, the Wii can handle it. And, for goodness sakes, at least give your penguin characters a shot at personality by at least giving them names. It'd be much more fun to yell "Hey! That's my fish!" if I knew who I was supposed to be.

It could have been a great board game tie in to the Wii, similar to Xbox’s Hasbro game night. But with the lack of some much needed content to the overall package you could just as easily go grab the board game off the shelf and have more fun.