Jewel City puts you as Jasmin, a
jewel thief who sets out with her trusted friend Brad, a helicopter pilot, to
steal back precious jewels from a group of nasty criminals who stole them in the
first place. Her travels will take her to a variety of different locales, like
the US, Brazil, Africa, and Europe, as she dodges the police and claims the
jewels back for their rightful owners.
The gameplay in Jewel City is
standard action puzzler fare. You have to run around the screen, collecting all
of the jewels in each area through the use of platforms and trampolines. You
have to dodge the police who are constantly running around the map trying to
capture you. If they get too close, you can use bombs in order to stun them
temporarily and make your escape. As the levels grow in difficulty and
complexity, you’ll have to face more police officers. Each location also has a
boss that you must face and defeat in order to move onto the next area.
Jewel City is essentially two games
rolled into one. There is the main game, and there is the bonus game, which is a
version of Bejeweled. The bonus game is a pretty fun puzzle game, but anyone who
has played Bejeweled will know exactly what to expect. The puzzle game can be
accessed in the main game mode in between certain stages, or through the main
menu.
Graphically, Jewel City looks pretty
good, with brightly colored sprites and environments. The characters are
decently animated, but unfortunately, quite small, especially on a mobile phone
screen. The game has some music and sparse sound effects here and there, but
nothing too outstanding.
Jewel City is a pretty fun puzzler
that can be quite difficult at higher levels. Fortunately, it is quite easy to
pick up and play, yet can be quite addictive and fun.
|
Review |
Gameplay: 8.0
Jewel City’s controls are very easy to pick up and the gameplay concept is
not hard to understand, but the game can be quite challenging and addictive as
you go.
Graphics: 7.0
Graphically, the game sports a nice colorful look that complements its
cartoony style quite well, but the sprites are a bit small and difficult to make
out.
Sound: 7.0
Sparse sound effects and some intro music, but not much else.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8.0
A fun action puzzler, the story elements are quite light (but hey, what do
you expect from a mobile game?)
Overall: 8.0
Jewel City is a solid action-puzzler that presents a nice challenge and a
bonus Bejeweled mini-game. It’s easy to learn yet difficult to master, which are
the two things that make a mobile game fun.
