Developer: Popcap

Publisher: Popcap

Release Date: Oct. 27, 2008

Systems: PC (reviewed), Mac

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 I've played the original Bejeweled and a few other match-three-type games before, but never for very long. Even the critically acclaimed Puzzle Quest left me feeling empty. For the most part, I'm just not good at sensing the patterns needed to succeed in these games.

0:01 Some quick loading and ethereal music plays over a sort of purple spiral black hole. I enter my username and receive a "Trainee" ranking automatically. The music has switched to astro-funk.

0:02 The "How to Play" videos show how I can twist squares of four gems clockwise to make lines of three or more of the same type. Four or more in a row creates explosive "flame gems," while five gets me a "lightning gem," each of which can explode to get rid of nasty, unkillable coal. Locked gems can't be twisted. Bombs have to be removed before they asplode. If I make a bunch of lines in a row, my score multiplier goes up.

0:04 Playable modes include the untimed Zen mode, the five-minute Blitz mode, the classic, er, Classic mode and the locked Challenge mode, which has "brain-busting puzzles." Let's start with Blitz, as five minutes is usually my tolerance for these kinds of games.

0:05 Before we start, a cut scene shows a brightly colored 3-D spaceship flying toward a massive space cube. This seems a little unnecessary for a match-three game. "GO!" says a guttural voice. And I do!

0:10 The same guttural voice does the final countdown of the last 10 seconds. I feel like I'm playing way too tentatively, looking for a perfect move to keep my multiplier combo going instead of just twisting away as fast as possible. It seems to have worked though ... I get five stars for my five minutes of effort. Now that the level is over, I can watch replays of best moves, cascades, etc. I'm very impressed with the hi-res, explosive presentation. Everything is so shiny!

0:12 Time for something a little more sedate. On to the Classic mode.

0:13 Finish Level 1 with a "10-chain" cascade that has almost nothing to do with me. New gems just kept falling down and making lines automatically. Fun to watch, but kind of unfulfilling.

0:15 Bombs start appearing in Level 2. I have 20 twists to destroy them, but there are so few that this really isn't a huge issue. I find I'm enjoying the game much more without the time limit ... much less pressure.

0:17 With Level 3 I start focusing on getting my score multiplier up with consecutive matches. This makes it a tad harder to destroy the bombs, but I manage.

0:18 Just noticed, the guttural voice of the announcer sounds a lot like the "Finish Him!" voice in Mortal Kombat. Except now he's saying stuff like "Excellent" when I blow up gems.

0:21 Level 4 contains a bomb block that I just can't manage to destroy without breaking my combo. That's OK ... I just ignore it and finish the level well before it explodes. I've earned enough stars to move up to Rank 2.

0:23 Annoyance #1: I can't twist the gems counterclockwise, meaning what looks like a potential match often isn't. Annoyance #2: The edge of the playfield often prevents me from making the twist I really want to make.

0:24 Another bomb plot is foiled by completing the level before it can explode. The appearance rate for the bombs and coal lumps is going up quickly.

0:25 If I take too long to make a move, the game will tell me what to do using a subtle sparkly effect. On the one hand, this removes all the challenge, if you're patient. On the other, I find it so embarrassing that I find myself doing all I can to prevent it.

0:26 I like how one errant twist doesn't totally destroy your combo multiplier. While doing a non-matching twist will lower the multiplier, you still get to keep some of what you built. The designers seem to realize that, sometimes, you're just going to have to break your chain.

0:31 Holy crap ... I complete a level JUST as a really pesky pearl bomb was set to go off. I like the visual effects on the bombs -- when they get a few turns from exploding, they start vibrating and smoking and just going nuts. It's impossible to miss!

0:36 Wow ... I just got totally saved from certain doom. There was nothing I could do about a red gem bomb that was set to go off in two moves. Then, somehow, I caused the cascade combo to end all combos. It was full of explosions, and random falling and I don't know what else. Long story short, "Level Complete."

0:39 I'm forced to give up a large chunk of my combo to maneuver some pearls into place and destroy a bomb. The explosives are really coming fast and furious now -- as soon as I deal with one, there's another halfway to exploding! I'm still really annoyed that there's no counterclockwise twist. Would that have been too complex or something? Even Tetris let you twist both ways!

0:42 I'm using the "you're taking too much time" hints a lot more than I'm comfortable with. I think my brain just isn't wired to see the kinds of patterns needed to identify these matches easily. Anyway, I've moved up to Rank 3: Rotator!

0:45 As the bombs get more prevalent, I'm forced to give up my multiplier quest entirely and just focus on diffusing them in any way possible. I fail quickly, and a purple gem gets all the way down to zero. That's OK though ... I get to spin a wheel to see if it explodes or if I can diffuse it at the last second. This seems a bit too random and luck-based for me. Then again, it's nice to have an occasional out for those bombs you just CAN'T diffuse.

0:48 A second bomb goes off, and this time I'm not so lucky. I finish Level 10 with 84 percent accuracy and a 4x average multiplier. I think I love all the stats, but why can't I save my most impressive replay? Not bad ... I rank #6 on the totally fake, built-in high score list.

0:49 On to the newly unlocked Challenge mode. The Detonator puzzles challenge me to destroy eight gems in one move. It doesn't have to be my first move, though ... I just have to keep playing until I luck into a chain that destroys eight. Not that hard...

0:51 On to the first Spectrum challenge, which asks me to make three red matches in a row. I develop a strategy in my head to ignore the red gems until they reach critical mass, then go for the matching. Problem is, the red gems keep getting destroyed by random explosions. There's no time limit or anything, so I'll succeed eventually. It just ... might take a while.

0:55 Since I don't have to worry about time or combos, I realize I can carefully position the red gems however I want to set up the 1-2-3 matches. Once I realize this, the challenge goes down easily.

0:56 "Coal Mine" requires me to destroy three coal pieces in one move. This is not as hard as it sounds, as there's coal everywhere. I get a lightning block quickly and it just happens to destroy four coals when it goes off. Next!

0:59 The "Chain Reaction" challenges order me to get 15 matches in a row. I did this easily in the Classic mode, but this time there's no sparkly hints for slowpokes. It's slow going, but I finally get it.

1:00 There are nine more types of challenges still to unlock, and each one has 10 levels! This could keep me busy for a while!

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Like Peggle, it seems like a perfect mix of relaxing randomness and subtle strategy. A perfect game to play with "The Daily Show" on in the background, methinks.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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