[Review] Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle (3DS)

As the dominant portable in the last generation, the DS hadmore than its fair share of puzzle games come out. Puzzle games, universallyappealing as they are, is fun for others besides the hardcore gamer; the morepuzzle games a system has, the more likely its success with casual gamers. WithKonami’s Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle, the3DS sees its widely appealing puzzler that even those with an AARP membershipcan enjoy.

Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzleincludes four unique, simple types of puzzles within. In Bridges, numbersdenote how many bridges extends to and from separate islands, eventually creatinga giant map once completed. Boxes has players drawing rectangles on a numberfilled map, all of the rectangles with a size corresponding to the numberwithin, until the map is filled and no boxes overlap and no area is empty. Museumis probably the most interesting one, where player-placed lights illuminateeverything in both the vertical and horizontal directions without hittinganother light; this particular game is completed when the whole room is lit up.Lastly, the game also includes Sudoku, a game that truly needs no explanationat this point, as a sort of headliner puzzle game, eclipsing the other optionseven in the main menu. Graphically, each puzzle is enhanced by a 3D graphic onthe upper screen, most notably one of various Bombermen greeting each other anddestroying bridges during Bridge.

It’s kind of hard to do a puzzle game wrong, other than by havinga shortage of puzzles or not providing a challenge; while Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle has enough difficult puzzles, the variety isdefinitely lacking. With such simplistic puzzles, players would expect a largervariety but will find no such thing. For the four categories that are included,however, Hudson has done a great job of including tutorials that flesh out allthe puzzles quite well. During their actual playtime, when players are gettingfrustrated by a puzzle and choose to quit, they’ll be disappointed to hear thatthey cannot work on another puzzle in the meantime and must choose to play thesame puzzle when they return to their 3DSs. As a cheat prevention method, thisis weak at best and easily pushes away players who cannot tolerate difficultchallenges.

While the puzzles themselves are by no means a bore, thevery existence of the game seems to be a questionable one at times. The veryname shows that these puzzles can be solved without the digital platform. Buyersmay find themselves reaching away from the $29.99 game and toward a printedbook of puzzles instead; the bang for buck ratio isn’t quite there, but puzzlefans with a 3DS might still find this worth their while.

Available on: 3DS; Publisher: Konami; Developer: Hudson; Players: 1; Released: October 25, 2011; ESRB: Everyone; Official Site

Note: A retail copy was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.

[Review] Cubixx HD (PS3)

What does HD mean now? It seems like that term is thrown around more even often than "recession," especially when I see HD in super markets. Though you think that HD might have more significance in the technological world of video games, but that clearly has not been the case. Usually all iPad games are given the term HD to distinguish them from their iPhone counterparts even though the iPhone has a better screen resolution. But I digress. Usually when I get a game that has the lovely branding of "HD," my first thought is to shrug it off. Now enter Cubixx HD. What can this game possibly have to justify the now cliche term of HD? Certainly nothing "high definition" as the acronym would originally imply, but it does bring some new gameplay elements that would merit the title some justification.

Cubixx HD is a reimagined form of the classic arcade game Qix. Though I'm not familiar with the original rendition of the game, I sure did play a similar game on my black and white pre-Sony Ericsson back in 2001. If you are not familiar with the basic premise, you control a dot that travels on along the lines a rectangle, where your enemy resides. As long as you stay on the lines, you're safe, but the objective is to enclose your enemy and capture a specified amount of the surface area. This may sound simple, but the challenge is that while you cross the surface, you are vulnerable and only are safe once you reach to the perimeter. This is how the primitive Qix played back in 1981 in arcades or on my equally primitive cell phone. To update the formula, Cubixx HD first transforms the environment to a cube rather than a square, with a different enemy on each of the six surfaces called...are you ready for this? Cubixx.

Tuning this game for a three dimensional environment really adds to the complexity of the gameplay. For one, you have to beware of surfaces that you can't even see the majority of the time. As you advance, the gameplay gets trickier with the introduction of other enemies. The first being mini-cubixx. Unlike the big daddy cubixx, mini-cubixx can be killed if you trap them. Line chasers are similar to your character because they travel on the edges as well but cannot travel on the surface of the cube. Their counterparts are the fuses, who can only travel on the create lines on the surface until it is completed and reaches the edge. With these four different enemies, the cube is already a delicate battlefield that'll have you second guessing your every move. But of course it doesn't stop there. As you continue to advance through the levels, other than the enemies getting faster, there are still more enemies to be introduced. Homers travel above the cube and do not actually kill you, but slow your movement; at times, there can be multiple homers targeting you at once. Certain levels are also plagued by asteroids. Targets appear on the cube and you must try to avoid them. Finally, there's the black hole enemy. Like homers, this also doesn't do direct damage but does affect your speed by either slowing you down or speeding you up by sucking you in depending on the direction that you are traveling. Also, making you the first thing that can successfully travel faster than the speed of light!

On the other side Cubixx HD also offers power ups on the surface of the cube that you earn by capturing the area around it. Power ups vary from: freeze, speed up, shield, extra life, kill, fast forward, slow down, etc. All of these are pretty self explanatory. As you can see, this isn't your average puzzle game. On top of all this, the game also provides six different game modes: Arcade, Time Attack, Score Attack, Line Attack, Challenges, and Death Match. Though I appreciate the variety in the game modes, that many is almost excessive because the differences in the modes is not enough to warrant its existence. Because of that the best modes are Line Attack, Challenges, and Death Match. What is even better is that all of these modes (except challenges) offers up to seven person co-op or versus multiplayer.

Cubixx HD is a rich puzzle game packed with gameplay to keep you entertained for hours. At $9.99, it's a steal. Though the 50 levels might seem redundant after extensive play, the difficulty does keep it interesting. For both casual puzzle fans and aficionados, this really is a must buy. If you aren't sure that this is the game for you, check out some free online versions of Qix and see if it tickles your fancy.

Available on: PS3; Publisher: Laughing Jackal; Developer: Laughing Jackal; Players: 1 - 7; Released: September 20, 2011; ESRB: Everyone; Official Site

Note: A promotional code was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.

[Review] Rochard (PS3)

The world of space exploration isn't all lightsabers, HAL, the schwartz, and William Shatner as proven by the life of John Rochard. Being an astro-miner is just about the least glamourous job that one can have in the glamorized world of outer space, and John Rochard is in the middle of it all. While deep in his rut one day, he stumbles upon an alien structure and the journey begins. As you join him on this side scrolling adventure, prepare to use all of Rochard's tools and tricks to solve various puzzles and save the day.

You start off by being introduced to the mundane life of a astro-miner. Though Rochard is the boss, his team has managed to be the lowest producing team in companies existence. While being introduced to the in's and out's of the mining world, you start off with basic moving controls as well as Rochard's most essential feature: his "G-Lifter." It acts as a tool for him to pick up objects and to launch them defensively or strategically. Not very long into the game, Rochard is given the ability to minimize gravity. This becomes one of Rochard's most unique and fun feature to mess around with as far as throwing objects and just jumping around in a near free floating state. 

The gameplay ends up being similar to a scaled down, side-scrolling Portal-styled game with more action. Though the depth in puzzles aren't nearly as intricate, the addition of enemies does make it somewhat more complex; however, there still isn't enough action to make it take center stage. The AI isn't horrible by any means but most of them die with just one melee attack, which is rather silly and hardly a challenge. As far as the controls goes, aiming is done with the right joystick, which can be a tad bit sensitive especially when aiming at anything that isn't at the left or right extremes. Though the storyline is intricate, it feels as though it is too complex and gets in the way of the core gameplay - shooting, platforming, and puzzles.

Rochard may be a unique hybrid of genres, but that is not necessarily a good thing. Puzzlers and shooters are my favorite genres, yet this game can't quite catch my attention. The puzzle does become the dominant aspect of the game, with the weak fighting only getting in the way of the puzzles. However this is a PSN exclusive title and at $9.99, it does offer a fairly extensive game. If you aren't looking for a strict puzzle game or an accurate and addictive shooting game, then you might be able to put up with what Rochard is lacking and still have a good time. But if you are overly critical about your gameplay niche, then this game will not be the one for you.

Available on: PS3; Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment; Developer: Recoil Games; Players: 1; Released: September 27, 2011; ESRB: Mature; Official Site

Note: A promotional code was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.