After successful versions on WiiWare and Apple's iPhone, Pop+ Solo takes all of the modes found in the WiiWare and iPhone versions and introduces a ton of new elements, including a very cool Adventure mode, complete with boss fights. Plus, for Achievement –whores out there (ourselves included), 'Badges' have been included that reward some very creative playing and feats of gaming skill. Then there are the fan-inspired Bonus Round games, the return of the hypnotic 'Chill' mode and even a number of customisable game mode tools and more – all for a planned price of 500 Points. Not too shabby, eh?
If you haven't checked out the other versions, gameplay in Pop is deceptively simple. Made by a team of three and having evolved gradually from the WiiWare version into a game that not only has you bursting flows of gradually growing bubbles, but eventually chaining together combos, swirling the stylus on the screen to 'pump up' an explosive burst and triggering power-ups. In Pop+ Solo, however, the emphasis on variety is surprising.
In addition to a revamped Training Mode that allows players to progress and practice at their own pace, rather than at the game's insistence, the new Adventure mode toys with bubble physics, introducing flow-fluctuating water jets, keeping the bubble effects nicely varied. Tantalisingly, the mode also incorporates sea-mines. These explosive obstacles actually become a tool for maxing out combos – they come in coloured variants and triggering one actually clears all the bubbles of that colour on the screen. Therefore, if you have a particularly awesome combo string going, you can either jack your score even further upwards, or potentially destroy your chain if you're not careful.
After progressing through several waves (presumably every fourth wave of 16 in total), you begin to encounter boss fights – a first for the series. Bosses play off the aquatic setting nicely, pitting your stylus skills against a gigantic ink-squirting squid, a screen-blocking starfish and more. The squid, as with the other bosses, wasn't finalised during our preview session with the game, but the idea is clear – it zips around the screen and hinders your popping rhythm, and you need to tap that sucker out of existence. If you take too long, it'll plaster the screen in oil blobs (visually, think Mario Kart DS' oil power-up) and you'll have to work around these. The starfish sounds even more promising; it latches onto the screen and each of its five limbs must be tapped off the screen, one at a time. If you don't, he'll eventually crack the screen or send out a wave of mini-starfish to impede your popping.
Fan feedback factored into the 'Bonus Rounds' mini-game set in Pop+ Solo. At this stage, five game variations are planned. Machine Gun is a rapid-tap mode where the sole aim is to continuously pop as many bubbles as possible within the time limit. Defend is all about trying to prevent bubbles from reaching a boundary line on one side of the screen, keeping you on your toes. Detonate sees you chaining together massive chain reactions that send a surge of popping-power rippling around the screen, sending scores rocketing. Focus is all about picking out individual colours; pop the wrong one, and it's game over – but a cumulative high-score system means that your progress builds up anyway and you can continue to push towards the next wave. Finally, Sequence is still a work in progress – a memory-matching style game that has you matching symbols after they're displayed on screen.
The 'Solo' moniker in Pop+ Solo is well-deserved. This instalment of the game is all about giving players lots of options to round out the experience. In 'Challenges' mode, you can create your own custom game types from more than a dozen options, including time and score limits, chain length, number of bubbles, wave directions and 'pump up' only play. All of this, as Creative Director Nic Watt explained to IGN, points towards the final culmination for the series, Pop Plus: Versus, due later in the year.
It's heartening to see start-up developers really getting behind Nintendo's new business model, providing gamers looking for unique experiences a product that delivers just that – at a price-point far below off-the-shelf retail. We're keen to see what else sprouts from NNOOO; we've heard talk of a groundbreaking and technologically impressive ghost-hunting game for DSi not far too off, so hopefully Pop will line the team's coffers and bring that one to fruition.
Pop+ Solo is due out at the US launch of the DSi on April 5.