Mojo! – XB – Preview

E3 2003 – Hands On

Puzzle games are
always a refreshing diversion from the ever-popular violent titles of today. 
It’s hard to find a gamer today that didn’t spend half of his adolescence glued
to Tetris.  Puzzle games appeal to hardcore and casual gamers alike, as well as
five year-old girls and octogenarian slipper-wearing grannies.  Puzzle games in
fact have no target audience, so it shouldn’t be any surprise to see Nana and
her granddaughter battling in Crave’s Mojo! when it comes out this Fall.

Mojo! is best
thought of as a cross between Pong rival Breakout and arcade trackball king
Marble Madness.  The object of the game is to break a series of blocks with your
ball over a series of 99 levels.  The trick is, your ball has to be the same
color as the blocks in order to break them.  In order to change colors, simply
roll your ball over one of the color changing ports on the levels. 

Each level is
timed, so players need to move fast and plan their strategy early.  Some blocks
and ports can’t even be reached until an outer layer of blocks is removed, and
some areas can’t be reached without picking up a key first.  Each stage can be
made of different platforms on different planes, forcing the player to use a
system of teleporters and slides to navigate the level. 

Mojo! also
features an entertaining multi-player mode allowing four players to bash each
other’s balls (sounds painful) off levels for dominance or play the normal
campaign cooperatively.  Bored with the 99 levels provided?  An easy-to-use
level editor allows players to create their own levels and save them to memory
cards. 

Mojo! is part of
Crave’s lower priced titles and will retail for $19.99 when it hits shelves this
Fall.