CubeHead,
by Cascata
Games, $18.99
Reviewed August 2002
For a game idea that came up on a train
ride, and for a game that took only 3 months to develop,
CubeHead is very polished and massive fun. As the first Pocket
PC title from Cascata Games, CubeHead takes you to the world
of Tiles, where fast thinking and slick sliding are the only
ways to survive.
The concept seems simple: you use your
stylus to slide the tiles so you can match up 3, 4 or 5 vertically
or horizontally to make them disappear, collecting bonus
points along the way. Yet, the developer found ways to spice
up this simple puzzle game by making the tiles magical. Some
tiles will blow up surrounding tiles, some will give you
double or quadruple bonuses, some will surprise you with
goodies, and some will turn into steel tiles and nail down
the row and column so that you can’t move anything
in them. There are other elements that make the game interesting
as well. There is a time clock for each level that can be
set anywhere from 2 minutes to 15 minutes. You must complete
certain points to advance to the next level. Not only do
you need to watch the clock, you also need to worry about
the energy. You start with a certain number of energy units,
and you can’t let them run out!
The game offers some really sharp and beautiful
graphics and the animation is nicely done as well. From the
title screen to the game registration window, to the game
board layout, to the item icons, CubeHead has a polished
stylish look that will keep your eyes on the game and your
fingers sliding. Each level has its own background image
behind the tiles. You can download even more images from
developer’s web site, which makes the game more interesting
and expandable. There are three difficulty levels as well:
Easy Cheesy, Ooh…Hard! and Psychotic, each starts with
a different energy level and different requirements to score.
You should familiarize yourself with which cube gives you
how many score points.
The sound effects and music match the good
graphics and fun game play. You can change the volume on
both or turn them off. Just like the graphics, you can even
download more music tracks from the game’s web site;
among the titles you will find are “Space”, “Trompetentchno
remix”, “Ra Ra Poontang”, “10 Dead”,
etcetera. The game supports ARM, MIPS and SH3, and takes
about 3 Megs of memory.
It’s not everyday a puzzle game with
original idea and style comes alone. CubeHead is definitely
worth a look!
Playing Hints and
Tips:
Read the help file came with the game before you play. Understand what
gains points and what loses them.
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