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