Review: GemMagic
Score:
65%
Version Reviewed: 1.00(01)
Block matching games, the lifeblood of the handheld machines. There’s something about small computers and little squares being put into order, made to vanish, or lined up in a pattern that appeals to the programmers and players of these small devices. Every successful device seems to have its flagship puzzler (think Tetris on the GameBoy or Lumines on the Sony PSP).
Perhaps it’s the fact that the level of programming required is not as high as a 3D-based vector arcade racer – all that is required is a good idea (or the subtle reworking of another), competent programming, and lots of playtesting to balance it. That was as true for games on the Atari 2600 as it is for games on today’s modern smartphones.
GemMagic is the latest to attempt to grab the Symbian puzzler crown. Coming from the ZingMagic stable, I had high hopes for this title. The gem pairing genre is now well established. You have a grid of gems, all mixed up, and you can swap a pair of adjacent gems. Get three or more matching coloured gems in a row and they will disappear – the gaps are filled by gravity, and new ones slide in from the top. There’s very little to go wrong – as long as you have the fast paced gameplay and a good interface you’ve got it sorted.
GemMagic isn’t quite sorted. It suffers though, in comparison to similar games – such as Bejewelled on the Palm – in that the gems aren’t as clear as they could be - and the game feels slow. There’s no zippiness to it on S60 3rd Edition, and the feeling is that you’re playing for the sake of it, not to be challenged.
I’m also pretty sure that it has an unnecessary key click. You select a gem by pressing down, then move the cursor in the direction you want it to be swapped… and then have to press down again! Okay there’s an argument that you’re not going to make an unintended move, but it sure does slow the game down a lot. And that just takes the edge off the frantic pace that a Bejewelled clone needs and drops the game into the ‘competent but not memorable’ slot in my mind.
As I said at the start, it doesn’t take a huge leap to start coding puzzle games like this. Which means that even the slightest flaw impacts heavily on the experience. GemMagic shows promise, but it’s probably at least one, maybe two updates away from standing out in the crowd.
Ewan Spence, November 2006
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at