Gem'X




Title           Gem'X
Game Type       Puzzle
Players         1-2, alternating
Compatibility   Timing problems on 68020+
HD-install      Patch+Fix (http://www.fh-zwickau.de/whdload/)
Submission      Achim Hrtel and Dennis Smith 

Review
Do you like to play with gems? Do you like hectic little logic puzzles?
Well if you do, take note because Gem'X combines both of these for your
delight. Along with some cutesy manga ladies in states of undress - who
could ask for more?

For those who never read instructions there is a helpful demo mode which
explains all the features, but if you haven't got the game, here is a
description.

In the manner of such games, your puzzle screen is divided into 2 halves:
On the left is the play area with gems arranged in the starting
configuration, on the right is your goal, the arrangement of gems that
you're trying to get to.

Achieving your goal is like a more complex version of the 'Lights On'
game. Instead of on and off states, there is a descending order of five
gem colours: red, green, blue, violet, yellow. Clicking on a gem will
force it to step down two levels on this ladder, and its four neighbouring
gems to descend by one level. If a gem goes below yellow on this ranking,
it implodes (ie if you click on a violet or yellow gem, or next to a
yellow gem), and gravity takes effect, higher gems falling into the hole
created, shuffling the arrangement sometimes quite surprisingly.

Thankfully for the player, the transformation order is displayed between
the 2 halves. After each attempt the Kiki, the game's cartoon host speaks
a comment to your success, and if you completed a stage you will get a
password, except for the last levels of the stage-tree.  The graphics are
nicely drawn and accompanied by some nice pictures of manga ladies [pretty
inoffensive pictures of naked girls with cuddly toys held in strategic
places, simply done, no real challenge to even the A500's graphics chips -
a somewhat dubious addition to the gameplay - Den - but that contributes to
the charm of the game - Achim]. There are several calming tunes to
accompany your progress. The control with mouse is recommended.

Due to the stage-tree (branching progression through the stages) and the
randomly given levels of the stages it has long-term-value - it will be
a very long time before you play all the puzzles - so this is the
right game to dig it out from time to time for a play. At the beginning
it's very easy but the later stages require quite some thinking. It has
got a 100-entry-highscore so all your friends and family can compete
within it.

Difficulty: For beginners, though the time limits on later levels can be
pretty harsh.

Rating: Graphics 80%, animation 75%, music 85%, SFX 80%, handling 90%,
initial gameplay 85%, permanent gameplay 85%, overall 85%.








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