Say “stop”
if you have heard this before. This puzzle platformer has a foul line and a
launcher/cannon on the bottom of the screen …
STOP!
Ok, but wait
a second. Across the top in the 2D game is a series of little balls that have
sticky edges and bare a variety of icons in the center. They are staggered and
in various groupings …
STOP!!
Just wait a
second, Ok? You launch a random ball and try to link three of the same …
STOP!!!
Geesh, I
take it you have heard this before, then. Snood 2: On Vacation is not the most
original game to hit any platform, even the Game Boy Advance. The idea of this
Gavity-I/Destination Software title is simple – you link three or more and they
disappear. Any balls that are hanging from the linked balls fall down and you
have to clear the screen before they advance, albeit slowly, downward. You have
to clear it all before they cross the foul line.
But before
you think that the entire game is nothing more than that, think again. There are
eight modes of play that offer variations on the theme. Snood Ball has the
balls, heretofore called Snoods, are in a circle in the middle of the screen,
you have to bank off the walls and if you miss the grouping, and your Snood
falls below the foul line, it is game over – well, not exactly, you get to try
again, with a limited number of continuation lives.
Snood
Sideways has the Snoods on the left side of the screen, advancing to the right.
Snood Grab has you using a grappling hook to grab a Snood to launch back into
the field. Snood Stack puts the cannon on the right side of the screen and the
Snoods are on the left. World Tour offers 10 levels, with national themes
sporting backdrops and jingles based on the country depicted. There is Classic
Snood (pre-determined arrangements), Puzzle Snood (32 screens of crafted
arrangements), Snood Journey (five level based on the difficulty settings) and
Armageddon (in which the danger bar builds up and once full the Snoods start to
advance).
The cannon
is stationary, but you can use the D-pad to aim it and the walls to bounce the
Snoods off and angle to the target. If this sounds like Bust-A-Move, you are
right.
While the
motion of the Snoods is decent, the game has other problems that can be
attributed to the size of the display more than anything else.
The faces on
the Snoods are tiny and some bear a similar look, making it tough, at times, to
distinguish between them. The music is something that should be turned off. The
gameplay is decent, but the music is repetitious and when you hear songs that
have some semblance to national anthems rendered out in elevator jingle style,
it gets old very fast.
The game is
simple to play and has several different challenges that will offer up a varied
experience. It is not the type of game that will have players addicted for hours
on end, but it is the type of puzzle title that will allow 10 minutes here, 10
minutes there of entertainment.
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Gameplay:
6.5
The load times
are incidental, the game mechanics are simple and the controls are intuitive.
Graphics:
5.0
The animation is
decent, but the small faces can make this a ‘squint’ game. The backgrounds are
merely Ok.
Sound:
4.0
Jingle themes can
get repetitious and annoying.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Five difficulty
settings ramp up the challenge, but the game is more a matter of aiming as
opposed to a cerebral challenge.
Concept:
5.0
While there are
different game styles, there is really not a lot of originality.
Multiplayer: N/A
The game does
allow for link play, but that was unavailable to test.
Overall:
6.0
While not a bad
title, this is a borrowed concept that has a few problems because of the screen
size and the game play is not overly compelling. It’s a been-there, done-that
game that has some variation and is an average game that will entertain for
short periods of time.
