Collapse!
Score: 95% ESRB: Not Rated Publisher: RealNetworks Developer: Mr. Goodliving Ltd. Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Puzzle/ Arcade
Graphics & Sound: RealArcade has produced several stylish and addictive games for the iPhone platform of late, and Collapse! is no exception. Though there are several similar games on the market, the use of a vibrant color palette really causes Collapse! to stand out among its peers. Not only are the colors bold, they are also extremely easy to differentiate between, a feature not to be overlooked in this genre. To complete the package, the music is fun and upbeat, drawing just the right cadence. When in the Adventure mode map or just starting a round, the sounds are lively, yet understated, but as the round progresses and the end nears, the tempo begins to pick up, becoming seemingly frantic (often in parallel to my fast tapping of the screen).
Gameplay: Collapse! embraces the concept that simple is sometimes better. In essence, the game revolves around removing groups of blocks by color before any of the columns reach the top of the board. There are six variations of the game offered, including Classic, Strategy, Puzzle, Panic Attack, Continuous and Countdown. Classic mode is just that. As the blocks fill from the bottom up, the player must eliminate them in groups of three or more before any of the columns become too tall. The round ends after a pre-determined number of rows are added. Strategy mode is a little slower-paced, offering a chance for a big score, but can catch the unsuspecting player by surprise if they aren't careful in how they eliminate the groups of blocks. Puzzle mode, perhaps my favorite mode of the game, begins with a full screen of blocks and the player must determine in which order to eliminate the groups so that all of the blocks are eventually removed from the screen. Panic Attack spices things up a bit by not only adding rows of blocks at the bottom of the screen, but also occasionally dropping a row from the top. Continuous mode is basically Classic Survival. Try to keep the blocks from the top as long as you can. Finally, Countdown is a Classic mode with a two minute time limit. Did I say "finally?" There is one more mode that can be found at the end of the quest called Chaos, but I'll leave the details for that mode as a surprise.
Difficulty: As mentioned above, Collapse! is a very straightforward game, even considering all of the variations available. Like so many games on the iPhone platform, much of the difficulty stems from the controls. It is easy to get carried away when tapping the screen, especially as the blocks near the top and start to shake. It gets hard to keep a steady hand (or in this case, finger) when time is running out. I often found myself inadvertently hitting the wrong string of blocks or missing what I was trying to tap. This becomes even more of a hardship when trying to hit a specific block, such as a bomb or row-clearing special block. During the quest phase, the stages become increasingly difficult to finish, but aside from the final stage, all were well within reason. The final stage, aptly entitled "Chaos," is a bird of a different feather and will undoubtedly challenge even the most stalwart player. Overall, I found the Quest mode, with the variations on the game, the casino and shops, to be extremely enjoyable and the difficulty curve well-paced.
Game Mechanics: The controls for Collapse! are simple, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some other mechanics in the game that differentiate it from similar titles such as Bejeweled and Neo SameGame. One of the most important factors to take note of when playing the game is that the row of blocks about to be added to the bottom (or top) can be seen before they are added. Good players will quickly learn that it is sometimes better to wait that extra second to get a much larger group of blocks to eliminate. Besides scoring more points, eliminating large groups of blocks will sometimes pause the build-up of blocks about to be added, even emptying the row completely if enough blocks are deleted. This can be a very important strategic move in later stages of the game. Also, in times when faster is better, tapping below the screen will cause the "on-deck" row to be added sooner than it would otherwise have been. Several other features are worked into the Quest mode as well. The first of these is the casino, where players can play little side games to earn more coins, which are in turn used to open more levels, buy access to new modes and purchase specialty items from the shop. In the shop, players can purchase many useful things, such as generic bombs, color specific bombs and hourglasses which temporarily pause the screen, giving the player a chance to catch a breath and maybe eliminate a few key groups. Careful use of these objects during the quest phases is not only helpful, but likely a necessity. Overall, I was very impressed with Collapse!. The addictively simple nature belies the underlying strategy needed to beat the game. A little luck is helpful as well. At a price of $.99 (at the time of this review), this game is a great bargain and I do not hesitate to highly recommend it to fans of this genre.
-The Mung Bard, GameVortex Communications AKA Buddy Ethridge
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