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If you like Puzzle games such as Tetris, Columns and
Bust-A-Move this game will be right-up your street. The
latest in the NintendoDS’ Puzzle game line-up, Actionloop –
formally known as Magnetica – adds weight to a line-up
already appearing resilient with the likes of
Polarium,
Pokemon Link,
 Puyo
Pop Fever and
Zoo Keeper, to name a few.
Actionloop is based on a FLASH game called Puzz
Loop – also released on Microsoft’s XboxLIVE! Arcade as
Zuma - and has been updated for the NintendoDS. The object
of the game is to match-up coloured gemstones, the same sort of
idea as Columns for the Mega-Drive and Game Gear. The
gemstones are fired from a launch pad with the NintendoDS Stylus.
If you match-up three or more gemstones in a row, they disappear,
if the stone that you fired does not match-up to make three then it
gets added to the trail. If the trail of gemstones reaches the end
of the track (normally towards the centre of the screen) then the
game finishes.
There are three gameplay modes available on the game – Challenge,
Quest and Checkmate Mode. Challenge appears to go on for eternity,
as Tetris did, getting progressively faster and faster.
Quest Mode adds a progressive flavour to the gameplay, as there
seems to be something different on each Level; such as adding an
extra trail of gemstones or putting an obstruction in the way.
There are also Silver Stones that can be destroyed only if they are
situated directly next to gems that you just matched-up, and a
multicolour ball that destroys all of the gemstones that match the
coloured stone that it touches first. There are also rockets that
push and speed-up the trail: they can be hit and destroyed by any
colour ball, but act fast as they move very quickly.
Quest Mode also has a fruit machine that commences when gemstones
are fired into a number of holes around the track. This will leave
behind Coins that are worth Bonus Points when fired at. There are
three coloured Clocks that help gameplay. The Yellow Clock
momentarily slows down the gemstone trail, the Red Clock
momentarily stops any advancing gemstones and the Blue Clock
momentarily reverses the direction of the gemstones. These can be
very helpful and seem to be sent-out when you are in trouble.
However, you still need to be able to hit the Clocks with a
gemstone, and if the trail is too long then you may not be able to
get one through. As Levels progress, there become multi-trails and
more than one launch pad to fire the gemstones from. There are also
obstructions that deflect a gemstone if you hit them; very
annoying, as the obstructions are normally exactly where you wish
to fire a gemstone, but still a reliable enough feature to provide
additional depth and scope of challenge.
Checkmate Mode sends gemstones out that become stationary. You then
get given a pre-set number of gemstones (this varies between
Levels) with which you have to get rid of all the stationary ones,
with no stones left over. Some of these Levels will be obvious to
complete whilst others will annoy you in your sleep.
Multi-Player Mode puts you head-to-head with a friend
battling to survive the bombardment
of gemstones following the track. You can select the length of the
game so that if no-one looses in the selected time then the winner
is decided by how many Points have been earned during game play.
There are other objects that feature in the trail of gemstones that
are not seen in the other gameplay modes. These objects add
obstructions around the Launch Pad to make the game more of a
challenge, and the top screen on informs you what they do.
The graphics do not stretch the NintendoDS at all, but
there is no need to as the game operates on pure simplicity which,
in this case, is not a bad thing. Often, products with a
simple-but-entertaining concept are the most addictive; and the
best remembered. The music for the game is Dance-chart-type
background music: common for the modern Puzzle game and not really
anything special. After a while you will forget that it is even
there. It simply does not even compare to the addictive, repetitive
and catchy music of a game such as Tetris. The sound effects
for the game do fit very well but there is not a call for highly
taxing effects due to the content of the game.
This game comes complete with a NintendoDS Rumble Pak
which vibrates every time gemstones are destroyed or when you are
about to loose. It adds an extra layer of depth to the title – as
it will do for those already released and supporting the unit –
however, it’s surely not significant enough on the original
NintendoDS design to offer much in the way of a “heightened”
experience with the title; and the NintendoDS Lite, of course,
features a receded Game Boy Advance Port, and so this unit bulges
from the Port rather inelegantly.
Actionloop is a good, solid game that will make
you hooked. There is no need to push and make full use of the
graphics capability of the NintendoDS as the simplicity of the game
is what makes it so playable. Puzzle games are many on the
NintendoDS, but with a game as compelling as Actionloop,
 there’s
always room for one more.
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