Review: GemsXXL2

This title screen is far more exciting than the actual game.

Match three or more jewels to score some points. Hm... I think I've played a game like this before.

Graphics:
Pretty good. The gems look appropriately gem-like, and the backgrounds and interface are all pretty good. I especially like the lightning bolt effect when you complete a match.

Sound:
A few effects and a single musical sting. The fidelity is fine, but the light tinkles you get when you match a set don't mix well with the sharp interface noises. It's best to play with the sound off, which, thankfully, it gives you the option to do.

Gameplay:
It's Bejewelled, but with a couple twists. Every time you match a set of three jewels, a gem appears on the board, and then you can match sets of three or more gems. The object of each level is to remove a certain number of gems in progressively fewer and fewer moves.

Match the jewels? Where have I seen that before?

If you remove more than 10 gems/jewels from the board with a single move, you'll be given a 10x gems, and one of 35 collectible gems for your trophy case. They don't do anything, though, so there's no reason to collect them.

What I liked:
-Tries to add a twist to the classic match-3 formula.
-A couple of the visual effects are pretty good.

I like how the edges turn red when you're running out of moves.

What I hated:
-Lets you know that Jesus is Love. I'm sure all the non-Christians out there are tired of hearing that.
-Doesn't cycle the ads enough. I'm fine with looking at ads if that's how you pay the bills, but you've gotta mix it up a little bit.
-Only lets you restart on a higher level if you reached that level on your previous play through. So, if you want some gems from level one, you'd better collect them after you get all the ones you want from level 26.
-When selling gems in the gem market, you have to tap the gem, wait for the screen to switch, tap 'Sell', wait for the screen to switch again, tap 'Yes, I'm sure', then wait for the screen to switch one more time. It takes way too long, especially if you're selling more than one.
-Only one game mode. At this point, we've been matching three things for over than a decade, so you've gotta give us more.
-Some graphical glitches.

I have no idea what's going on here.

Final Verdict:
It's a competent gem-matching game with a minor twist, but it has some odd design choices, and only one game mode, so there's no real reason to download it; you've played this game before.

GemsXXL2 is ad-supported and available for free from Lunagames on BlackBerry App World
Reviewed version 2.0

Review: Emily and the Magic Maze

Emily is out Trick-or-Treating when she wanders across a haunted house. A magical black cat inside mistakes her for a real witch and turns her costume broom into a real flying witch's broom. Now she has to escape from the house before the evil witch who lives there catches her.

Graphics:
Excellent. The characters are well drawn, and although it's a tile-based game, there's enough variety in the tiles that it's not too noticeable.

All the animated characters move fluidly, and their idle animations loop seamlessly.

The menus are well drawn, but the interface elements don't give a lot of feedback, unfortunately. They seem to respond to input too quickly and the game jumps to the next screen before the interface animation has time to complete. But, that's a minor quibble.

That's one of the prettier interfaces I've seen recently.

Sound:
The effects work well, and the music is both appropriately spooky and bouncy.

Both the music and effects can be disabled at any time, and the audio levels are very good, which is something that a lot of developers seem to overlook. I can't count the number of times I've nearly had my ears blown out by an overly loud effect.

Gameplay:
The object of each level is to fly Emily around a room, pick up a key and exit through the door. It's relatively straightforward, except, since she's only just learning to fly, Emily can't stop herself and will fly forward in a direction until she hits an obstacle. Therein lies the puzzle.

Now you're thinking with portals.

Things start off simply enough, but soon there are multiple enemies and obstacle types, and picking up all the optional treasure (candy, naturally) before reaching the exit can get a bit tricky. You'll breeze right through the first two levels, but once you hit about level 15, even veteran puzzle gamers will find at least some small challenge.

There are five achievements to earn, but you'll grab most of them without even trying.

I got this one without even doing anything.

What I liked:
-Brief interludes between the levels add a little levity and explain the game mechanics. The English isn't perfect, but it's passable.
-Puzzles get more complex as the game progresses.
-Sounds work well and fit in with the game's aesthetic.

Before levels, the cat gives you advice. Always take advice from animals. They know what's up.

What I hated:
-One terrible bug.
-There aren't more levels available. This is the kind of thing I could play for a while.

Final Verdict:
If not for one, simple but important bug, this would have been my first 5-star review. Unfortunately, the game failed to save my progress when I quit. I'd only put about half an hour into it, and I could probably complete the whole thing in a single sitting, but that's still unforgivable. It doesn't occur in all situations, but I was able to reproduce it.

Emily and the Magic Maze is available for free from Lilium on BlackBerry App World.
Reviewed version 1.0.1