ColumnsX

Reviewed by: DeathDude

Positive Points: Faithful recreation of Columns
Superb music
Challenging computer opponent

Negative Points: Not much environment variety

Genre: Puzzle

Size: 12 099 KB

Multiplayer: Hot Seat

Requirements: Windows,

Questionable Content: None

Editor rating: 4.5

Homepage: http://64digits.com/games/index.php?cmd=view_game&id=1225

Download location: http://64digits.com/games/index.php?cmd=view_game&id=1225

One of the most well known puzzle games outside of Tetris as some may know would be the quirky and addictive Columns games that first appeared on the Sega Genesis. Taking the concept of eliminating three blocks horizontally, vertically or diagonally, added a new element of strategy to the puzzle genre. While the series may not be the most popular one, game developers are still paying tribute to this classic series, by way of their own creations using the Columns game idea. This is exactly the case, in ColumnsX, a faithful creation from the original idea. Not only that, the game excels with a superb sound track, and a challenging computer opponent, that is not super difficult nor super easy. There is plenty to tweak and fiddle with before you start the game, and any puzzle fan should definitely look at this game.

When you first load up the game, you will be presented with an option of whether you wish to run the game in 640*480 mode, or if you wish to run the game at your current resolution. Choose whichever option you like, because you will be able to change it, in the game should you change your mind. Next, when you start up the game, you will have some options to choose. You can enter the game right away, if you already know about or have played any of the Columns games before. You can watch a tutorial that will explain the rules of Columns and some of the combos you can create. You can also change your settings, from how loud the music is, or whether you wish to change your resolution. The badges option is essentially an award screen that will keep track of certain accomplishments that occur as you play, from creating a small combo, to beating the computer AI, nice little feature to have for reference. Once you are ready choose the single player option and the next screen will prompt you to choose between two different modes: battle or duo. Battle mode is a one on one match between either yourself and the computer or yourself vs. a friend. You can tweak the options before you start, to also include pressure mode, which raises the playing field of your opponent as you create more and more combos. In addition, you can tweak the speed of the game if it is proceeding too slowly. The object in this mode is not just simply staying alive as long as possible, your goal is to get the highest score possible, once both players have filled up their screens with gems, the match will end and the player with the highest score wins. Duo mode on the other hand, allows you and the computer or a friend, to work together on getting a high score, by working together to create combos, all the while trying to minimize the screen moving up, as time progresses.

The controls are not mentioned in the game, so here they are. Move your block column left and right with the left and right buttons shuffle the block order with the up button, and drop your block column faster with the down button. For player two, the buttons are a and d to move your block column left and right, w to shuffle the block order, and finally s to drop the block column faster to the bottom of the screen.

The Columns influence is quite clear in the game and is recreated faithfully. From the look of the blocks, to the different combos you can create, this is a near flawless creation paying tribute to the Columns games. The movements of the blocks, the characters, also feel just like they would in the original. 

The music as well is fantastic to listen while you are playing; it does not distract from the game and fits the mood quite nicely. Most of the sound tracks are actually quite short in length before they change to the next track but if you do not wish to play with music, you can always turn it off in the settings menu. 

Finally, the computer opponent that challenges you is not difficult to beat and found this to be quite nice, as some puzzle games usually have a very difficult computer AI that can be sometimes quite hard to defeat. The computer will give you a nice challenge but it is quite beatable and that was good to see, that the computer is not super combo maker, like in some games.

Despite all this, it would have been lovely to see some more environment backgrounds used for the game. This was the only minor concern I had with the game, as staring at the same brownish background can get a bit tiring, so a little variety would have been great.

Nevertheless, this was a fantastic game and really did enjoy it. Highly recommend it to any puzzle fan who wants a challenge. There is plenty to do in this game and even some secrets to unlock, so check it out, and see it in action.