The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This thread has been linked to the game 'Luxor'.
What a great Christmas it was. A huge delicious dinner, seeing all my friends and family, playing games and drinking. Of course there were the presents too and something that came as a nice surprise was the small gift containing a brand new iPod Touch. My last MP3 finally gave out a month back and I needed something for my vast music selection but what I wasn’t aware of though, was the amount of games and applications I could download for it too. But where to start?
I first gave Luxor a go on my mate’s computer a couple of years back and even though I must admit puzzle games aren’t my first choice of genre, I found myself strangely addicted coming back for more. Fortunately a port made its way to iTunes making it an immediately purchase. It seemed like the quick one more go nature of the game would translate perfectly to a mobile device.
Each stage in Luxor consists of a pathway (usually a huge spiral, wavy pattern or a route full of overlaps and hard corners) which several strings of marbles roll along slowly making their way into your temple. It's down to you to stop this via shooting more coloured marbles from below and matching three or more of the same and eliminating them. The game is extremely simple to grasp and within minutes you'll be shooting marbles with ease while within a few hours you'll be naturally picking up on combos looking for the highest scoring shots. Power ups can also help you along the way improving your accuracy, speed and in eliminating more marbles so hitting those big scoring moves pay off. Like all puzzles it’s all about the points and here is no exception.
While easy mode gets you into the swing of things nicely, you'll find the normal and hard difficulties a much bigger challenge, not only upping the speed and frequency of the marble rows, but also adding more colours to the mix. Whether you're a gamer or just someone who's getting a taste for the platform, you'll feel right at home here.
The campaign is spread across a huge map with each stop offering a new level to beat. All in all there are around eighty levels or so to complete and that’s your lot. Sure this will last you a fair while, but options are extremely limited with the exclusion of some sort of free play mode being the most bewildering. You can’t repeat levels you’ve played unless you start the single player campaign again and to me that just seems like bad design. But at it’s low price point it’s hard to complain too much.
Like the Xbox 360, achievements are used here offering reason to keep coming back and playing. Winning a stage whilst using no power-ups and never missing a single shot are some of the more difficult challenges to beat and will definitely appeal to those hardcore types who want more mileage for their money.
While online is limited, the ability to upload your scores to your Facebook status is definitely a neat one. Leaderboards are also available to those who spend a few minutes creating an account too.
Visually the game looks crisp and clear while also offering some nice Egyptian style backgrounds. Sure it’s a puzzle game so graphics aren’t exactly the most important thing to worry about, but the Egyptian look definitely provides a unique feel giving the game an advantage in separating it from so many puzzlers out there. The music is powerful and makes you feel constantly under pressure as you race to clear all the marbles from the screen. Sadly this same track is all you have which is a shame as more similar tunes would definitely have been welcomed.
At only 59 pence this is an absolute steal with hours of entertainment on offer. The controls take some getting used to, but overall the game just feels perfect for a handheld device. Looking for something addictive and fun then look no further, Luxor is a bargain.
I first gave Luxor a go on my mate’s computer a couple of years back and even though I must admit puzzle games aren’t my first choice of genre, I found myself strangely addicted coming back for more. Fortunately a port made its way to iTunes making it an immediately purchase. It seemed like the quick one more go nature of the game would translate perfectly to a mobile device.
Each stage in Luxor consists of a pathway (usually a huge spiral, wavy pattern or a route full of overlaps and hard corners) which several strings of marbles roll along slowly making their way into your temple. It's down to you to stop this via shooting more coloured marbles from below and matching three or more of the same and eliminating them. The game is extremely simple to grasp and within minutes you'll be shooting marbles with ease while within a few hours you'll be naturally picking up on combos looking for the highest scoring shots. Power ups can also help you along the way improving your accuracy, speed and in eliminating more marbles so hitting those big scoring moves pay off. Like all puzzles it’s all about the points and here is no exception.
While easy mode gets you into the swing of things nicely, you'll find the normal and hard difficulties a much bigger challenge, not only upping the speed and frequency of the marble rows, but also adding more colours to the mix. Whether you're a gamer or just someone who's getting a taste for the platform, you'll feel right at home here.
The campaign is spread across a huge map with each stop offering a new level to beat. All in all there are around eighty levels or so to complete and that’s your lot. Sure this will last you a fair while, but options are extremely limited with the exclusion of some sort of free play mode being the most bewildering. You can’t repeat levels you’ve played unless you start the single player campaign again and to me that just seems like bad design. But at it’s low price point it’s hard to complain too much.
Like the Xbox 360, achievements are used here offering reason to keep coming back and playing. Winning a stage whilst using no power-ups and never missing a single shot are some of the more difficult challenges to beat and will definitely appeal to those hardcore types who want more mileage for their money.
While online is limited, the ability to upload your scores to your Facebook status is definitely a neat one. Leaderboards are also available to those who spend a few minutes creating an account too.
Visually the game looks crisp and clear while also offering some nice Egyptian style backgrounds. Sure it’s a puzzle game so graphics aren’t exactly the most important thing to worry about, but the Egyptian look definitely provides a unique feel giving the game an advantage in separating it from so many puzzlers out there. The music is powerful and makes you feel constantly under pressure as you race to clear all the marbles from the screen. Sadly this same track is all you have which is a shame as more similar tunes would definitely have been welcomed.
At only 59 pence this is an absolute steal with hours of entertainment on offer. The controls take some getting used to, but overall the game just feels perfect for a handheld device. Looking for something addictive and fun then look no further, Luxor is a bargain.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
What a great Christmas it was. A huge delicious dinner, seeing all my friends and family, playing games and drinking. Of course there were the presents too and something that came as a nice surprise was the small gift containing a brand new iPod Touch. My last MP3 finally gave out a month back and I needed something for my vast music selection but what I wasn’t aware of though, was the amount of games and applications I could download for it too. But where to start?
I first gave Luxor a go on my mate’s computer a couple of years back and even though I must admit puzzle games aren’t my first choice of genre, I found myself strangely addicted coming back for more. Fortunately a port made its way to iTunes making it an immediately purchase. It seemed like the quick one more go nature of the game would translate perfectly to a mobile device.
Each stage in Luxor consists of a pathway (usually a huge spiral, wavy pattern or a route full of overlaps and hard corners) which several strings of marbles roll along slowly making their way into your temple. It's down to you to stop this via shooting more coloured marbles from below and matching three or more of the same and eliminating them. The game is extremely simple to grasp and within minutes you'll be shooting marbles with ease while within a few hours you'll be naturally picking up on combos looking for the highest scoring shots. Power ups can also help you along the way improving your accuracy, speed and in eliminating more marbles so hitting those big scoring moves pay off. Like all puzzles it’s all about the points and here is no exception.
While easy mode gets you into the swing of things nicely, you'll find the normal and hard difficulties a much bigger challenge, not only upping the speed and frequency of the marble rows, but also adding more colours to the mix. Whether you're a gamer or just someone who's getting a taste for the platform, you'll feel right at home here.
The campaign is spread across a huge map with each stop offering a new level to beat. All in all there are around eighty levels or so to complete and that’s your lot. Sure this will last you a fair while, but options are extremely limited with the exclusion of some sort of free play mode being the most bewildering. You can’t repeat levels you’ve played unless you start the single player campaign again and to me that just seems like bad design. But at it’s low price point it’s hard to complain too much.
Like the Xbox 360, achievements are used here offering reason to keep coming back and playing. Winning a stage whilst using no power-ups and never missing a single shot are some of the more difficult challenges to beat and will definitely appeal to those hardcore types who want more mileage for their money.
While online is limited, the ability to upload your scores to your Facebook status is definitely a neat one. Leaderboards are also available to those who spend a few minutes creating an account too.
Visually the game looks crisp and clear while also offering some nice Egyptian style backgrounds. Sure it’s a puzzle game so graphics aren’t exactly the most important thing to worry about, but the Egyptian look definitely provides a unique feel giving the game an advantage in separating it from so many puzzlers out there. The music is powerful and makes you feel constantly under pressure as you race to clear all the marbles from the screen. Sadly this same track is all you have which is a shame as more similar tunes would definitely have been welcomed.
At only 59 pence this is an absolute steal with hours of entertainment on offer. The controls take some getting used to, but overall the game just feels perfect for a handheld device. Looking for something addictive and fun then look no further, Luxor is a bargain.
I first gave Luxor a go on my mate’s computer a couple of years back and even though I must admit puzzle games aren’t my first choice of genre, I found myself strangely addicted coming back for more. Fortunately a port made its way to iTunes making it an immediately purchase. It seemed like the quick one more go nature of the game would translate perfectly to a mobile device.
Each stage in Luxor consists of a pathway (usually a huge spiral, wavy pattern or a route full of overlaps and hard corners) which several strings of marbles roll along slowly making their way into your temple. It's down to you to stop this via shooting more coloured marbles from below and matching three or more of the same and eliminating them. The game is extremely simple to grasp and within minutes you'll be shooting marbles with ease while within a few hours you'll be naturally picking up on combos looking for the highest scoring shots. Power ups can also help you along the way improving your accuracy, speed and in eliminating more marbles so hitting those big scoring moves pay off. Like all puzzles it’s all about the points and here is no exception.
While easy mode gets you into the swing of things nicely, you'll find the normal and hard difficulties a much bigger challenge, not only upping the speed and frequency of the marble rows, but also adding more colours to the mix. Whether you're a gamer or just someone who's getting a taste for the platform, you'll feel right at home here.
The campaign is spread across a huge map with each stop offering a new level to beat. All in all there are around eighty levels or so to complete and that’s your lot. Sure this will last you a fair while, but options are extremely limited with the exclusion of some sort of free play mode being the most bewildering. You can’t repeat levels you’ve played unless you start the single player campaign again and to me that just seems like bad design. But at it’s low price point it’s hard to complain too much.
Like the Xbox 360, achievements are used here offering reason to keep coming back and playing. Winning a stage whilst using no power-ups and never missing a single shot are some of the more difficult challenges to beat and will definitely appeal to those hardcore types who want more mileage for their money.
While online is limited, the ability to upload your scores to your Facebook status is definitely a neat one. Leaderboards are also available to those who spend a few minutes creating an account too.
Visually the game looks crisp and clear while also offering some nice Egyptian style backgrounds. Sure it’s a puzzle game so graphics aren’t exactly the most important thing to worry about, but the Egyptian look definitely provides a unique feel giving the game an advantage in separating it from so many puzzlers out there. The music is powerful and makes you feel constantly under pressure as you race to clear all the marbles from the screen. Sadly this same track is all you have which is a shame as more similar tunes would definitely have been welcomed.
At only 59 pence this is an absolute steal with hours of entertainment on offer. The controls take some getting used to, but overall the game just feels perfect for a handheld device. Looking for something addictive and fun then look no further, Luxor is a bargain.