Brush Roller, by ICOM
Consulting, $12.95
Reviewed September 2002
You think you’ve seen all the Pac
Man games and the clones out there. Well, if you haven’t
played Brush Roller, you haven’t seen them all. Developed
by ICOM, Brush Roller replaces Mr. PacMan with a paintbrush,
instead of collecting dots; you paint different colors as
mean creatures chase you. Who’d think that playing
Pac Man could become a painting job?
The game board layout still reminds you
a little bit of Pac Man, but only a little bit. The brush
roller runs in maze-like lanes with an occasional overpass.
As the brush goes by, the lanes change their color, and your
goal is to finish painting them before either the sharks
eat you or the mice step in to the wet paint and mess things
up. You will loose a life if the sharks eat you. If the mice
mess up the lanes, you have to repaint them again. There
are 4 exits where you can exit from one side of the board
and enter from the other, and a several animal cages inside
the maze. The deadliest animals are the sharks that will
come after you when you get close to their tanks, and will
not give up until they’ve had you for lunch. Other
small animals hang around in their cages until you paint
the lanes in the color they dislike. Then they will come
out and leave footprints all over the new paint, making you
work all over again. You will earn bonus points if you kill
the small pests. In higher levels, the animals will get faster
and smarter. It will take very fast eyes and hands to complete
all 15 levels.
Needless to say, with the new game play
design comes new graphics and animation. The game board design
is creative and stylish with good use of the screen. The
running lanes are not entirely flat 2D—there are overpass
areas and speed zones that add dynamics to the game play.
The decorations around the game board are cute, and information
about scores, levels, number of lives are shown in the game
without cluttering the game window. The animations of in-game
movements and game finish screen are sharp and colorful.
The sound and music also add fun
to the game. You can adjust the sound volume and set your
button controls. The game keeps a high score board and
comes with a help file. Brush Roller supports all color
Palm OS PDAs.
Playing Hints and Tips
Get familiar with the maze; use
the fast lanes when you can. Chase down the mice for bonuses.
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