CID, the hero of this game, is a Crash Impact Dummy who feels like he has a bigger purpose in life beyond safety testing automobiles. CID's prayers are answered as his carping is overheard by inventor Professor B.M. Werken who gives CID a special suit and sends him off on a mission to rescue the professor's daughter MIA who has been kidnapped by the evil villian D-TROIT.

CID is a a 2-D platform game where you use both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk to guide CID through various environmental obstacles that include toxic pits, timed switches, electric fences, guard dogs and more. While the game is targeted to a younger audience, the controls aren't the most intuitive which will keep this game out of reach of the really young.



The game starts with an optional tutorial which is useful for understanding the controls and the range of CID's movements. Unfortunately, going through the tutorial doesn't make controlling CID any easier. Knowing what to do and being able to execute the move (while being chased by an evil droid) are two different things. The one real 'downer' about the tutorial and various cutscenes is that the professor's voice is like nails on a chalkboard...and he speaks vvveeerrryyy slowly.

Anyway -- on to the controls. Moving through the basic side-scrolling screens is very straight-forward but, when CID has to run or shoot his bazooka, it gets a good bit more complex. To shoot the bazooka, you have to swing the Wii-remote over your shoulder while holding the A button. Unfortunately, this move is too close to the puch move (which is done by vertically shaking the remote) so - too often than not - you end up with results that you weren't intending.

The problem with these unintended moves is that they can result in your falling from a ledge or getting killed by an attacking bad guy. A BIG catch when you die is that you have to replay the level (and 're-solve' all puzzles) as there are no in-level save checkpoints.

The game keeps itself interesting with some secret levels, boss levels and a driving mission (which is very "Pole Position-ish"). The secret levels are critical for loading up on health, orbs and lives as, if you have to restart the game, you start with the number of lives that you left off with - not the full quota of five lives with which you started the game. Orbs are important too as, once you colelct 10 orbs, you can launch a panic attack which kills all enemies in the area with a shock wave.

Conclusion
A decent game for younger gamers who have the patience to work through the challenges with the controls