maka

BTW, the reviewer doesn't seem to understand the way energy is won and lost.

This paragraph is wrong:
"Each panel that explodes costs you one point in addition to gaining you a point, thereby cancelling out the benefit.

To actually gain points you have to connect a set of panels that are primed to explode with a set of panels which are not primed. These additional panels will not deduct points for the explosion so you can gain the much needed points in this fashion. When you destroy panels a new set drop in instantly to take their place which can also set off a reaction, but you will not be credited with any points unless you connect them to another group."

What actually happens is that the an explosion of one color always costs 4 points no matter how many blocks (or panels) it has. So, you need to explode groups of 5 or more in order to win points.

Also, the chain reactions do give you energy even if you don't add more blocks unless of course they're just 4 blocks big. This changes in multiplayer, where you need to "claim" the reaction by twisting a block adding it to the explosion.

Maybe that part should be changed as to not mislead your readers...

oops... I was wandering what the GC was for

Online High Score boards would have been really cool...

Just want to add that I'd expect the reviewer to actually appear at the high score tables (maybe he's under another name??) I found it pretty easy to reach the scores of the top ten in the first 10 levels... (maybe because not many people are actually playing the game... their loss...)

I wonder how often the boards update...

"Ah, so this is why we never got a video!"

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I watched a video of the game before I decided to buy it...

"It really is a game that you'll either love or hate, and since the majority of gamers will fall into the latter category, the 3 is justified."

How are you so sure? Most of the hating comments on this thread are from people that haven't (and will never) buy the game...

BTW, the "arcade" elements don't come into play in all the levels. There are levels that don't have obstacles at all. I think all the elements offer variety with different levels needing different approaches (some need more reflexes, some more thinking).

Well. While the game doesn't deserve a 10, it doesn't deserve a 3 either. I love to get my WiiWare and VC news at this site and usually like the reviews, but this score has made my confidence in this site to go down a big notch...

(No, I don't work for the company that made the game)

Edit: Now that I actually read the review, I see how the reviewer wasn't even trying. Is the game for everybody? No. It doesn't make sense to give this game to review to someone that was already skeptic about the game. He knew from the start he wasn't going to like it and, surprise! He didn't.

Now many people won't even give the game a try when it could have been one many would have liked. I am not disappointed I bought it, because so far I'm enjoying the combination of elements that make the game.

These couple of paragraphs though, I don't think were right:

"Most of the time the playing field is filled to the brim with white panels that will not react to one another; therefore you'll have to paint them"

Not true. Most of the time there are a few white blocks (except some levels which do start with a lot of white blocks). If you're not careful, you can find yourself with the screen full of white blocks due to the bad items. But white blocks are not usually an issue. This is not a problem of the game, but of the player...

"New panels wait off-screen to all four sides of the playing field, depending on the way the gravity changes. You can press a button on your Wii Remote to see a small map of what is waiting for you, but in practice checking this is a needless annoyance and more often than not you'll simply be left to the mercy of whatever comes your way."

Not true. You really have to see what's coming to plan ahead and complete the levels. Just randomly flipping blocks will get you killed. That's why it's a puzzle game... I completed about 10 levels and for now each level had unique twists (in the layout, items, etc...) that required a different approach. I still wish the map would show the current game situation, and not just the one for the beginning.

The rest is the opinion of someone that just doesn't like this kind of game... convulted gameplay? What? Now all the puzzle games have to be simple one button affairs? (And I do love MaBoShi ) I'll just say I like the "convulted" gameplay and I think the addition of the ME is very fun and I like having to dodge the objects while solving the puzzles. Yes, I too can pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time...

As I said in the other thread, for me the biggest problem the game has is the twisting mechanic to change colors, especially because it is too sensitive and sometimes the wheel spins out of control. This could be addressed in a patch, and it'd be great, but that won't stop me from playing the game

7,5/10

I went ahead and bought the game. I think it's a very fun game, but for now I agree 1000 points would have been a better price. 1500 seems a tad too much, but then, I still have played just 5-6 times, so maybe my opinion will change later...

My only complains are:

1. I wish they would have applied some kind of smoothing algorithm on the pointer movement. Sometimes the pointer shakes like mad. This may be a problem with my lighting, but other games that do some kind of averaging usually don't have this problem

2. The twisting mechanic is a bit strange. I would rather play with only the remote, but sometimes the colors turn like crazy with almost no movement of the remote. It works better with the nunchuck, but still, I think there's a bug there and I wish a patch was released...

I went ahead ad downloaded it before the review because it looked really original. I wasn't disappointed. All three games are enjoyable and challenging, and very addictive...

I think to say that the square game is a snake clone is a bit too much. Just the fact that the game is turn based and it's puzzle nature makes it a totally different experience from snake... More a puzzle than an arcade...

I mostly agree with the review. It is a great game. Once you play for a while it's amazing what degree of control you can have on the Circle and Bar games with just one button.

A very original and fun game indeed!

All I can say is Wow!!! I followed the development of Frontier: Elite II for years and when it finally came out was so impressed. No game has come close to what that title acomplished. The whole galaxy in a 3 1/2 disk!!!!

Still, it seems Elite 4 could be too big a game for wiware, but I hope they release it for the Wii, and if they don't, at least for the mac...

Now that we have C64 games on the VC, why not add Amiga games starting with Frontier?

BTW, I enjoyed Frontier more than the original Elite, and the way you could land and explore any planet was excellent.

Wow, I didn't even think about Turbo Esprit on the c64. This was one of my favorite games on the ZX Spectrum back in the 80s. I may still have the original tape somewhere... Totally ahead of its time...

I don't think I've had any game take more than 3-4 minutes to transfer to a SD card. Maybe you should get a faster card? 30 minutes seems way too long. Still, it is a pain to have to copy games back and forth...

The palm handhelds have the option of running games from their SD cards. First they copy the game to the internal memory, then run it and when you exit it, they erase it from memory. I think Nintendo should do this too, so the process of copying/deleting is automated...

They should add different difficulty settings so everyone's happy. You should be able to have fun playing the game no matter your ability...

At last!

I hope they release the picross game. I wonder what the numbers in the red corner are for. They seem to be the minimum space that the blocks would occupy...

Now they only have to release Elite 4 on the Wii

Oh, I'm disappointed we didn't get Nebulus, as it was recently rated... maybe in two weeks...

I downloaded Street Gangs when it came out and it's really great. I recomend it too.

I used to play this game a lot as a kid. Another Epix classic they should release is Chamonix Challenge (Final Assault), the great climbing game. It was one of my favorite games as a kid on the PC and later on the Amiga...

Another vote for Elite 4. Frontier was one of my favorite games on the Amiga, and there's nothing quite like it...

Hi all, (first post) I'm happy to hear that the C64 will enter the VC. I was one of those that grew up with a Spectrum, but a friend had a C64. I wonder how many C64 games will work well without a keyboard... I know I'd love to play Specctrum games on the wii, but many would be unplayable without it (that and you can legally download most games Spectrum games online for free)