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Reader review by OrpheusUK
April 14, 2008 Go! Puzzle is not one game in fact but three; Aquatica, Swizzle Blocks and Skyscraper. Each of these games can be downloaded from the PSN store individually or, for a slight reduction in overall price, as a pack of three. I won’t, as I haven’t in previous reviews, include the prices here as these vary between regional stores and occasionally over time. All I can suggest is that, if you are interested, you go and take a look. Go on, it won’t take long.Aquatica, first of all, is a falling blocks style puzzle game very much in the same style as Piyotama. It doesn’t include the aggravating Sixaxis shaking of its contemporary but is unfortunately equally dull. Basically sets of mines slowly fall from the top of the screen and before they land you are able to rotate them horizontally. If you manage to stack the mines so that three of a matching colour are in a row then they will disappear. Keep this up without reaching the top of the screen and you are onto a winner. That is basically it other than the fact that in addition to this standard mode there is also a battle mode which can be played either against the computer or an online opponent.
The aim in battle mode is the same as the standard game; however, you are also rewarded with the odd power up to throw at your enemy in an attempt to cause them to fail. Unfortunately the pace is so slow and the power ups are so infrequent that it will more likely end in a challenge to see who can play longest without deliberately disconnecting. This game has been done better elsewhere and there are plenty of similar options available for free on your PC. The graphics are adequate and the music is soul destroying. I played this once when I first bought it and then made myself play it again just so that I could write this review. You see what I give up for you people?
Thankfully Swizzle Blocks is a whole lot more enjoyable. While still operating on a basic rotate the block principle this game is a whole lot faster and requires a combination of quick thinking and fast finger work if you are going to succeed. Each level starts with a screen partially full of coloured blocks and, as time passes, more will be added from both the left and the right of the screen. You must rotate these blocks in groups of four to create a square of four blocks of the same colour. These blocks, along with any of the same colour which are touching them will then disappear. You must clear the screen completely to progress and if you have any chance of success you will need to do this before the timer at the side of the screen runs out. Once this reaches zero blocks will be added non-stop from left and right and you stand very little chance of success.
This game is still graphically basic but thankfully the music is a lot more tolerable. It is also extremely easy to pick up but at later levels very hard to master. The number of colour variations on screen increases with difficulty as does the number of blocks which you have to clear. Just when you think you have got rid of a certain colour for good the game will drop and extra two blocks of that type on you. Of course you need at least four to clear a colour so this is where the element of strategy comes in. Your best bet is to arrange a colour so that in one move you can clear all the blocks of that colour. This doesn’t hurt your score but will start to hurt your brain after a while. Surprisingly I like this game and have played it quite a bit. The multiplayer game is far too confusing if you go for more than one on one but working your way up the online scoreboard on single player is entertaining enough.
Lastly to Skyscraper which for most people seems to be the favourite of the three. Not for me, as I prefer Swizzle Blocks, but for most people. As the title suggests this game involves working your way up a skyscraper. You control a little chap who needs to be guided from left to right across the screen within a time limit in order to advance to the next level. This sounds simple, in fact extremely simple, but it is not. Not only is the time limit provided very tight but your little chap can only walk on tiles of a certain colour. This colour is up to you so you must make your decision both wisely and quickly. Once you step out onto the level you are stuck with your choice and can now only walk on tiles of your chosen colour in order to reach the other side.
If you become stuck then you can jump a single tile and if you manage to clear all of the tiles of a certain colour then you will be awarded a well needed time bonus. This game is very fast paced but for me is too random to be the best of the three. Each time you retry a level the pattern of tiles changes and this can make things either very easy or extremely difficult based purely upon luck. I don’t like luck elements in games; maybe because I don’t have any but that doesn’t change the fact. Of the three games this one does have the nicest graphics and, I guess, tolerable music. You can also play multiplayer as a race to get to the top of each skyscraper.
Overall it is highly unlikely that you will like all three of these games so I recommend trying each one first and then going for the cheaper option of buying the one you like best. As I have said, Aquatica is a disaster so this is going to be one of the remaining two. For me Swizzle Blocks is by far the best and even though I don’t play it that often it will keep its space on my hard drive and still get the odd blast from time to time.
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