Wii's Little King's Story is a surprising gem.

Little King's Story for the Nintendo Wii. Picture / supplied

Don't be fooled by the title which sounds like a primary school fable, because Wii's

Little King's Story

(PG: Mild Violence: Rising Star/Marvelous games) is a big surprise. It's a charmingly innovative and witty game with good visuals.

I know - it sounds a bit over-the-top, but the best games are often the ones you least expect. And like all such finds, it's got its share of quirks. By first appearances, it's easy to be fooled into thinking its a child's game.

The game has that cute child-like and colourful Pikmin look about it, all set to happy classic style music. It's another one of those tales about a little boy, named Corobo, who wanders the forest near his village and finds a crown full of mysterious powers. It empowers the boy as the king of the village, creates a castle as your home and gives you villagers to control.

Underneath the pretty cuteness lurks twisted characters and themes of world conquest. You know something's up when early on Kampbell from the Sect of Soup asks you if you believe in God and insists you build him a church or else all hell will fall on you.

Not surprisingly, I discovered it comes from the developers who created the

Final Fantasy XII

and

Dragon Quest VIII

games.

Little King's Men

is a mix of real-time strategy and adventure and is a long game - I'm still going but it's said to be around 35 hours.

Here's what the story is about:

Taking on the kingdom is quite a challenge - it's on the bones financially - and you need to use your subjects to help you - although they tend to be scruffy deadbeats. They include soldiers to fight, farmers to dig and then there's the critical selection of five members of your Royal Guard. Treasure uncovered is converted into cash (called Bol) which you use to upgrade your Kingdom.

When the pressure is off, you can stroll around your village and make sure people are living happy and productive lives. The big challenge is when, after some time, you move to global conquest and do battle with the seven kingdoms, where the strange monsters make the lands their home. These creatures include the bat-winged sheep, skull- headed cows and killer sunflowers!

There are some frustrations, especially in the save option - which requires you to go back to the castle to speak to your minister Verde - and choosing your guards is a fickle business. If such things bug you or you start to think it's repetitive, you'll soon get over it as you become hooked into the cutesy strategy and the interesting way the Wii controller makes ordering your subjects easy.

When I finally took out the enjoyable Fire Emblem game from my Wii to play this, I didn't expect it to be as addictive or fun. Exactly what sets this game apart from so many others is hard to pinpoint, but it's such an imaginative magical fantasy world that it seems to reinvent the genre.

I wouldn't have picked it out in a shop so I hope that it doesn't get ignored. It is suited to all ages and I love it.

This could be one of Wii's best games of the year.

MadGamer rating: 9.5 / 10

Sony's Quizmaster Buzz is back, but this time with a game that's focuses on local trvia.

Buzz! Brain of New Zealand

has more than 4000 NZ-related questions in categories such as sport, movies, TV and knowledge.

It's good to have a quiz version where there are questions you should know! Sony is also running a real contest for those using PS3 online. The person at the top of the single player leaderboard (accessed in game when signed into the PlayStation network) come 5pm on July 20 will win prizes worth more than $1000 and bragging rights as the Buzz! Brain of NZ. Good luck!

The game is also available for PS2 and PSP.