The WHATSITs themselves make the game quite entertaining. While you do run across a few simple race cars and even a motorcycle, most of the junk you’ll work on is of the bizarre variety. Prepare to be fixing everything from giant toilets, wedding cakes, and fishing boats to battle tanks, the Golden Gate Bridge, and even a space station. Not knowing quite what’s coming down the pike next is part of the fun. It’s also what just might keep you playing, at least for a short time.

Though Normal Mode is primarily the single-player component of the game, up to three other friends can join you with their own Wii Remotes to help your team out. The humorously titled Abnormal Mode is a more competitive form of multi-player. Two pit crew teams, which can be controlled by one or two players on each side, work against each other while repairing the same WHATSITs. The group that completes the most repairs by the time all the WHATSITs are fixed wins the match.

Cutesy characters and heavily damaged WHATSITs look good in Pit Crew Panic!, but the entire game plays out against the exact same backdrop. Also, you’ll be listening to the same upbeat, cheerful song over and over again, and every single girl on your team makes the same bubbly chirping sound whenever they’re done a task. When mixed with the limited play modes and repetitive gameplay, this lack of variety tends to wear down the game’s welcome faster than it should.

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Pit Crew Panic! has some of the makings of a good game, yet it’s also missing a lot finishing touches. The goofy concept is fun and could have blossomed into something really interesting. Unfortunately, it’s held back by minor irritants and a lack of depth. WiiWare games are shorter, less elaborate, and more limited than full releases on the console, but some amazing games have indeed been produced for the service. Though it’s entertaining in spurts, Pit Crew Panic! is not one of them.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Staff Contributor