DesertEagleXIX
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When Bejeweled was released by PopCap in the year 2000, it quickly became an addiction for me. The gem swapping diversion had the simplicity of Tetris and the depth of Reversi. In subsequent years, the popularity of the game created a glut of imitators like Puzzle Quest, which used the basic play mechanic to represent role-playing combat. Before long, I was burned out on Bejeweled and its myriad of clones; I had lost interest in the game after gleaning its strategy for optimal play.
It was with hesitation I placed the Jewel Master: Cradle of Rome disk into my Wii; after all, the back of the box proudly proclaimed, “For fans of Bejeweled and Jewel Quest.” Surprisingly, the title offered enough variation on the Bejeweled formula to keep me quite interested. At a bargain price of twenty dollars (and currently $14.99 during Gamestop’s Gamedays sale), Cradle offers a respectable amount of captivating gameplay at a very reasonable price.
Like many similar puzzlers, gamers must match at least three matching pieces in either a horizontal row or vertical column, thus causing the pieces to disappear. Once pieces are removed, new ones come cascading from the top of the screen. However, unlike Bejeweled, many levels contain funnel points that must be opened before new pieces can fall freely. Whereas successful players in most gem puzzlers focus on the bottommost pieces to initiate combos, Cradle of Rome requires the gamers to remove pieces from across deliberate sections of the screen, radically changing the title’s strategy. Additionally, each of the game’s 100 levels varies widely in shape from hourglasses to pyramids.
Continued: http://tech-gaming.com/2009/04/09/rocking-the-cradle-of-rome.aspx
It was with hesitation I placed the Jewel Master: Cradle of Rome disk into my Wii; after all, the back of the box proudly proclaimed, “For fans of Bejeweled and Jewel Quest.” Surprisingly, the title offered enough variation on the Bejeweled formula to keep me quite interested. At a bargain price of twenty dollars (and currently $14.99 during Gamestop’s Gamedays sale), Cradle offers a respectable amount of captivating gameplay at a very reasonable price.
Like many similar puzzlers, gamers must match at least three matching pieces in either a horizontal row or vertical column, thus causing the pieces to disappear. Once pieces are removed, new ones come cascading from the top of the screen. However, unlike Bejeweled, many levels contain funnel points that must be opened before new pieces can fall freely. Whereas successful players in most gem puzzlers focus on the bottommost pieces to initiate combos, Cradle of Rome requires the gamers to remove pieces from across deliberate sections of the screen, radically changing the title’s strategy. Additionally, each of the game’s 100 levels varies widely in shape from hourglasses to pyramids.
Continued: http://tech-gaming.com/2009/04/09/rocking-the-cradle-of-rome.aspx