iPhone App Reviews

Posts Tagged ‘match 3’

Smiles

Swain Valasek | Feb 17, 2009 Games

User rating:

(24 votes, average: 2.75 out of 5)

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Upping the ante for cute and adorable is Smiles from Mike Kasprzak of Sykhronics Entertainment. To my delight, this developer has found a way to pump fresh adrenaline into the crowded sub-genre of ‘match 3′ games. How so? Glad you asked.

The key play mechanic that sets it apart is how you form matches. Instead of the typical method of swapping only adjacent tiles, Smiles works by having you effectively pick up a tile and place it anywhere on the board, as long as doing so makes a match of 3 or more on the horizontal or vertical. Whatever tile you’re replacing then becomes the tile ‘in hand’ to place and so on. This opens up the potential of a lot more matches, gobs of combos and quite frankly, big fun. The tiles themselves are smiling (and often blinking) little bug-eyed widgets in what has to be a first for the genre…an impressive 3 unique themes to choose from (vegetables, seasonal and classic boardgame-like tiles) so visually there’s something to please everyone. Falling tiles have a sort of ‘squish’ to them when they come to rest and this, along with an excellent animation sequence, make combo chains a real joy to behold and provide a legitimate ‘hook’ to the game. As you play you can accomplish 140+ ‘challenges’ (more commonly known as achievements) and I’ve mentioned before I just love this feature in games. As expected, there’s a ‘trophy room’ where you can gloat over all you’ve gathered. The game features rotation support so you can change gravity as you play. Normally I’m not a fan of this but because of the ’tile in hand’ approach here it’s actually intuitive and truly enhances gameplay. Your game always saves on exit and when a call comes in so all good there. Unfortunately you can only have 1 game ongoing at any given time. You can mute the sound at any time and the pause menu displays not only how much time you’ve spent playing but the actual time (very handy). There’s no music included but iTunes music is supported (encouraged really).

This app bills itself as 2 games in 1 and I found that to be an accurate claim. The game actually offers 3 modes but 2 are similar enough to be lumped together:

Zen – in this mode the object, through traditional match 3, is to light up all tiles. Tiles only light up when matched and you have only the tiles you start with; matches don’t clear tiles. This makes it a puzzle game in the classic brainteaser sense as you just know there’s a solution but you’ll be breaking matches left and right to form new ones and you’ll need to think ahead. Excellent game mode, lots of fun and ‘game 1′ of the aforementioned claim.
Drop – in this mode, as you clear the board with match 3 play, new tiles may be encased in ice or simply be rocks. Iced tiles can only be matched but never swapped and rocks can’t be matched or swapped. Iced tiles can be shattered (turning them into normal tiles) and rocks crushed by dropping them 3 or more squares, depending on difficulty level. This is the most fleshed out mode as there’s a silly amount of variations; reminds me of the old Atari 2600 where you hit the toggle switch for biplanes, triplanes, single shot, multishot etc. Same concept here but it’s how far ice/rocks have to fall to break or how many unique tiles are present (up to 6). This then is ‘game 2′.
Avalanche – in this variation on Drop mode all new tiles are encased in ice so it’s really just a question of how long you can hold out before being overcome by the advancing wave of ice. Nice diversion and though you’ll be spending all your time in Zen and Drop, you’ll dip in here once in awhile.

Not too many gripes with this game as it’s solid as a tree trunk but as always, I can find something. First, the ‘back’ button can become non-responsive when the phone is in a rotated position (namely upside down). Rotating the phone back to the normal orientation immediately resolved it. Second, rocks are pointless and only annoy the player. Third, conspicuously missing are any form of powerups. In one of my marvelous segues, I really wish the rocks, when broken, released a random powerup like dynamite (or something more pacifist like a water balloon), instant ‘de-icing’ or even just bonus points. Fourth, you can ‘level up’ in Drop mode but I can’t make any sense of it; nothing changes, you just keep playing like nothing ever happened (beyond a little ‘level up’ indicator flashing). Also, as with any game really, a global scoreboard would be awesome so hopefully that’ll be added in an update.

One might complain that the price is a bit higher than the competition but when you consider there truly are 2 standalone games included here, it’s justifiable and I would say worth it. Definitely try the lite version first if you’re on the fence; I think you’ll be impressed as well. In the end, Smiles is an awesome game that will thrill any fan of the match 3 genre and easily make converts of everyone else. Recommended without reservation!

Version reviewed – 1.1
Global scoreboard – no, local only
iTunes music supported – yes
Lite version available – yes

: Ok how cute is this?

: Consitent pastel, eye-pleasing theme throughout

: Zen mode, I'm a few moves away from victory

: Avalanche mode, where it's just you against the ice

: Combos are freaking sweet, superbly satisfying

Tags: $4.99, Games, match 3, smiles, Swain Valasek

Gemmed!

Swain Valasek | Feb 15, 2009 Games

User rating:

(7 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)

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Boy o boy, what have we here? It’s Gemmed! from Wasted Pixel. The original Bejeweled has become such a massive phenomenon that even its gameplay has a name, ’match 3′. The Internet is absolutely lousy with clones now and the app store is in lock-step. Fortunately, developers are pulling out all the stops to keep this genre fresh and exciting and Wasted Pixel turns in a fine, fine effort here.

At the core of Gemmed!, you will indeed be matching 3-5 gems horizontally or vertically to remove them from the board for points while gravity fills the empty spots with more gems. Been there, done that you say? Well stay thy indifference as this is where it gets interesting. Simply clearing the board of gems isn’t the goal here; what you need to do is get anywhere from 1-9 ‘monsters’ (loosely patterned after Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde) to their color-coded exits around the border of the playfield (50 levels total). Unfortunately the game doesn’t give names to the monsters which is a shame as they have gobs of personality. For example, they’ll fall asleep if they haven’t moved in awhile and if 2 or more end up adjacent to each other they’ll start synchronized dancing. Each monster will automatically chomp like-colored gems as long as it gets them closer to their exit. This is great stuff as you occasionally get treated to very Pac-Man-esque interludes as the monsters munch their way across the screen. Each monster has a special powerup and as you clear gems, a progress bar is incremented for each one and once full, the powerup is placed randomly on the screen. There are also special white and black ’ghost’ monsters representing good and evil that aren’t present onscreen but otherwise work the same with color-coded progress bars. The good ghost will give you a random helpful powerup while the evil ghost’s is a hindrance. Powerups are well-done and include things like randomizing all onscreen gems, turning all like-colored gems into dynamite, instantly rescuing a monster, an awesome lightning strike and taking time off the clock. You get big bonus points for clearing levels quickly but thankfully you aren’t held to any specific time and can take as long as you like to finish a level. As you play, ‘trophies’ are awarded for various oddball achievements like getting a monster to its exit in only 1 move; I just love this feature in games so its inclusion here is fantastic. Fans of Bejeweled 2 on the iPhone certainly know all about the crushing defeat of the Mortal Kombat-ish ’NO MORE MOVES’. Fortunately you can earn replays in Gemmed! so that problem is handily resolved here. You can also enable (and disable supposedly, more later) a hint feature that shows possible moves if you’re idle for a certain time. One thing you won’t see is the ability to rotate the phone to change gravity and frankly, I don’t miss it. The game is relatively easy through the first 20 levels or so but most definitely gets more challenging so casual fans are covered in the first half while match 3 jockeys should be challenged in the 2nd. A thoughtful feature is when you pause the game it shows the actual time. Lastly, you can save your game and it autosaves when a call comes in.

The graphics, sound, music and overall presentation are simply top-notch. All entities are well-drawn, whimsically animated and a pleasure to behold while the sounds are right on.

There’s very little to gripe about with Gemmed! but I do have a few minor ones. First, there’s an option to disable the music but iTunes music isn’t supported. Further, with music off the ‘synchronized dance’ of the monsters is accompanied by a neat little beat but with it on, not present (and missed). Second, the gem graphics, while detailed, look more like hard candies than gems and crikey the brown ones look like rabbit offal. There’s an alternate ‘theme’ which changes the gem gfx but visually I find it worse. I would love to see the gem graphics updated to be a lot more ‘gem-y’. Lastly, and I hope this one gets fixed quick, is that I can’t for the life of me turn off the auto-hint feature. N00bs to the genre will need this sure but seasoned players will definitely find it a distraction.

That’s honestly about all I can say there as otherwise this game is just superb and any fan of match 3 games really needs this one in their library. It’s slick, polished and shiny, just like a gem indeed. If you don’t believe me try the lite version and see for yourself; I think you’ll end up purchasing it.

Quick note, the price image shows $1.99 but this represented a sale which has ended so the review has been tagged with the normal price of $2.99.

Version reviewed – 1.2
Global scoreboard – yes
iTunes music supported – no
Lite version available – yes

: Red monster caught in a cat nap

: A new achievement yay!

: Big points for fast completion

: A truly sweet powerup

: Muncha-muncha munch

: The good and evil ghost monsters make an appearance

: Gloat and brag about all your achievements

Tags: $2.99, Games, gemmed!, match 3, Swain Valasek

Quadrum:colors

Swain Valasek | Feb 7, 2009 Games

User rating:

(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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How many times can you fold a piece of paper until it’s no longer physically possible? Arguably 7. The Mythbusters achieved more but regardless, the point is it’s finite. So it seems with the multitude of derivations on the Bejeweled theme. How many more can the iPhone sustain before the game concept implodes upon itself and winks out of existence? Apparently at least 1 more because Quadrum:colors from Kirill Bulatsev of iChromo hits the right buttons.

Basic concept of matching colored tiles which are then removed and you score points? Sure, yes of course. Slide rows and columns in the cardinal directions and turn the phone to change the direction of gravity? Certainly. Quadrum:colors seems to run headon into the concrete wall of Bejeweled me-too’s but at the last minute veers hard to the left and comes out unscathed. What sets it apart is the new twist of multi-colored tiles which allow you to ‘chain’ unique groups of matching tiles together for big bonus points. This is a cool feature which adds a new dimension of challenge to the game (as long as you’re playing for a high score that is). Encountered later are oversize blocks that further the challenge by limiting how you can slide tiles. So the goal of the game then is to match as many colored tiles as you can (at least 4 per group), horizontally or vertically, chaining whenever possible for the highest point total. Later you can also match tiles in 2×2 blocks which is helpful. There are 3 total game modes, each with 4 progressively unlockable difficulty levels. The first is what’s described above, called Puzzle mode. The second, called Color Rush, pits you against regularly regenerating tiles in a race to clear the board. The third, called Zen Colors, is an open-ended, penalty-free mode where the only way to remove tiles is through color chains.

The tile graphics are nicely drawn and very pleasant to the eye. The sound fx are nothing fancy but well-suited to the game. The interface is easy to navigate and plenty of help is provided if you need it. You can also mute the sound from within the game so that’s always a welcome feature.

My first gripe is that quite often while playing I inadvertently brought up the pause menu as it’s just a hot button at the bottom of the screen like 1 mm from the active playfield.

My second gripe is there are no Trism-like powerups to keep the gameplay from getting stale too fast so hopefully the developer will add something like that in a future update.

Quadrum:colors is polished, stable and well worth the asking price. Don’t expect the world but do expect a refreshing update to a familiar gameplay mechanic that definitely entertains.

Version reviewed – 1.1

Global scoreboard – no

iTunes music supported – yes

: So...pretty and...shiny

: Example of the different tile sizes

: A basic color chain using a multicolor tile

: Here I have a chain using a few multicolor tiles

: Yet another chain but using both a larger tile and a 2x2 group

Tags: $0.99, Games, match 3, quadrum:colors, Swain Valasek

Underwater The Game

Swain Valasek | Jan 30, 2009 Games

User rating:

(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Underwater The Game is published by GameEra Inc but apparently developed by a Russian team. Mikhail Solovyev is the named seller in the app store but there aren’t any credits in the app itself and the only website linked from iTunes is game-era.com which doesn’t (as of this review) have a listing for it at all.

The gameplay combines elements of Tetris and Bejeweled with an underwater motif. ‘Blocks’ of colored jellyfish (3 per) float down the screen at a set pace and it’s your task to line up 3 or more of the same color jellies vertically, horizontally or diagonally, at which point they pleasantly pop off the screen, everything shifts down to fill the space and you rack up some points. Your interaction with the blocks consists of moving them left to right and changing the color order. Quite familiar stuff to be certain so let’s see what else it offers.

Loosely wrapped around the above gameplay is an underwater theme where as each level progresses, a hi-res and quite beautiful ocean scene is revealed. Once you complete the level you can enjoy the scene, along with lots of animated bubbles and a relaxing ambient music track, for as long as you like before moving on. This is a very nice touch and adds an element of relaxation to the game. Heck they should probably cross-market this app in the Entertainment category. Anyway my gripe with this is if you play through without stopping, each new underwater scene is something of a reward for finishing the level. Sweet. However if you stop and pick up where you left off later which describes oh, everyone, the game previews the full scene prior to starting the level! So at that point you’re just popping jellyfish with no surprise hiding at the bottom of the cracker jack box. Another gripe is that there’s a ‘bloom’ effect on the jellyfish that, while fancy, also makes it difficult to tell colors apart and gets to be a major eyestrain in general; would be great to have an option to disable this particular graphic flair. Also an odd bug encountered is that sometimes the onscreen ’menu’ button would go missing so if I wanted to quit back to the main menu I had no choice but to wait for myself to lose or exit the app entirely.

The controls get an A for effort as there are 3 unique schemes to choose from but read on as it’s not all aces. First up is using the accelerometer to move the blocks left and right, tap the screen to change color order and I never could figure out how to make it fall rapidly. This mode proved basically unplayable as the constant tilting wasted too much time and just isn’t accurate. Next method is swipe gestures where you swipe left/right to move the blocks, swipe up to change color order and swipe down to fall rapidly. This would seem a great option but ultimately wasn’t as again time got wasted with repeated or misinterpreted swipes (though still FAR better than the first mode). Finally there’s a screen tap option where you tap the extreme left and right sides of the screen to move the block, the extreme top to change color order and the extreme bottom to make it fall rapidly. This mode proved to be the best and most comfortable way to play.

What’s missing that would really elevate this to one of the premier casual puzzlers is the addition of some creative powerups to keep things interesting. So what you get is an average but still engaging puzzler with above-average artwork and music, definitely good for that ‘kill a few minutes’ experience. Worth noting is the game seems a bit shy on length for the money if you go by the number of scenes included which is 18. Bottom line, if you’re new to this genre and/or like your gaming a little downbeat and Zen then you would definitely enjoy adding Underwater The Game to your library. Seasoned vets however won’t find enough variety here compared to the leading apps in this category.

Version reviewed – 1.0

Global scoreboard – no, local only

iTunes music supported – no