Ah yes, the rare blog entry on a mobile game. I thought this one was worth talking about briefly, so here we are. BACKGROUND:
You know those emails from Apple that give you app recommendations? Well, this is the one time something on there has actually piqued my interest. PLOT: Unless you consider short snippets of facts as plot, there is no plot. PRESENTATION: There isn't much to say here. The game looks all right visually (though there are no graphical bells and whistles, or distinct art styles), the UI isn't cluttered and presents everything clearly, and the art looks faithful to the retro era it pays homage to. GAMEPLAY: This game is essentially Konami's nonograms (or picross, as I have come to know this game). If you don't know what a nonogram is, it's a logic puzzle where you fill up squares in order to form an image, with the clues coming in the form of numbers that denote how many squares are filled in a given row or column. Even if you've never heard of it, you'll pick it up quickly thanks to the game's somewhat overbearing tutorial. It gets super tricky as you go along, but this game eases you into it by giving you easy puzzles at the start. At the start, you'll only be solving puzzles of size 5x5 (which are incredibly easy), but as you clear more puzzles, you'll eventually unlock more complex boards of size 10x10 and 15x15. Unlike other games of this kind, you don't actually get to select which puzzle you wanna do; you are given one at random each time, an approach that lends itself well to the "play in short bursts" model that is common in a lot of mobile games. Overall, there are a whopping 500 puzzles to solve, so there is no shortage of content in the game. The finished art of each puzzle features a reference to classic Konami games from long ago. You have art based one the A-list Konami properties (like Castlevania, Contra, Bomberman, and Gradius), retro stuff that most people my age won't be familiar with (TwinBee, Circus Charlie, Yie Ar Kung Fu, to name a few), and even shit that I have never heard of (the fuck is Nuts & Milk?). The game also provides a short description of the finished art and what it means in its game of origin. I have some familiarity with the old Konami games (thanks to my time emulating a small number of them back in the day), so seeing a bunch of them be referenced in this game through pixel art is really neat. Konami as a company has made some big stumbles in recent memory, and this game is a sort of reminder that they still have a respectable legacy of games behind them. If you're not into Konami or don't care about old games, that's completely fine; your unfamiliarity with the art will not hinder your experience at all. That said, if you're curious, this game tells you what old Konami game the art is referencing, and you can always look them up (or even play them, if you're so inclined). Some of these old games are still worth playing today, so I think it's worth exploring if you're interested. Some of the puzzles in this game are designated as boss puzzles. Appropriately, these are 15x15 puzzles, and take quite a bit of effort to complete. Once you do, the finished boss puzzle forms a small part of an even bigger image. This is a cool idea, but I find it mildly vexing that there's a 3-hour timer before you can access one again. I guess even this game has to have some sort of stamina system despite not needing one at all. Once you complete a puzzle, it becomes available for viewing in the collection menu. The game tells you your exact completion percentage, and you also have the option to replay puzzles you've already done. There is a timer in the game, so you can replay puzzles to get a better time if you wish. Now, since this is a mobile game, you may be expecting microtransactions. In a pleasant twist, there are none. You can enjoy this game entirely for free; no pay-to-win, just pure picross goodness. Notably, the few ads there are in this game are all promotion for other Konami games, which is a welcome departure from the usual ads one sees in a lot of these free-to-play mobile games. VERDICT: I've always enjoyed picross, and Konami's Pixel Puzzle Collection is a decent take on it. It's simply the classic puzzle with a Konami coat of paint, and I am satisfied with that. Though you may be better served playing the many other picross games out there, this is an easily accessible entry point for the unfamiliar. It's completely free, it teaches the mechanics well, and you may learn some Konami trivia along the way. Try the game for yourself for free on your preferred mobile platform: - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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