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Bejeweled
v2.2 for PalmOS & Pocket PC
Reviewed
by: Howard
Carson, send
e-mail
Published
by: Astraware, go
to the web site
Requires: Any
Palm OS 3.1 or later; music requires Palm Zire 71 or
Tungsten series, Treo 600 or Sony UX series
MSRP: US$14.95
The PDA
addicts among us cower in fear at any new release of something
as supremely engrossing as Bejeweled. The fact is that
except for things such as Solitaire and Yahtzee, nothing
hits the spot like, oh, about an hour of Bejeweled. The
game started off as a pleasant diversion a few years ago.
These latest versions arrive complete with all the advantages
provided by PalmOS 5 and Pocket PC 2003 - excellent performance
in standard or hi-res, clean, colorful graphics, smooth
game play and fast game response. The Pocket PC version
includes a solid music track to help urge you on to higher
and higher scores.
The Bejeweled
game board is straightforward. A grid filled with rubies,
diamonds and a variety of other jewels is presented in
random order. You have to create row of 3 or more identical
jewels, whereupon the row disappears, the jewels above
collapse down and new jewels appear at the top of the board
to fill the gaps. You are only allowed to move one jewel
at a time to create a row of three or more - no dead moves
allowed. Keep your focus and you'll be better able to see
the matches, but if you lose your concentration (or if
you get too intense during a game) it gets really hard
to distinguish matches. The game does not end until there
are no more matches, which means games can end after a
couple of minutes or go on for hours. After weeks of playing
Bejeweled, we have yet to come across a duplicate opening
session, which means the grid setups at the beginning of
each game are completely random.
Who
thinks of this stuff?!? It may appear innocent enough,
but it's actually all very insidious, addictive and well
designed. Of course the
trick to any
good game
design is often how hard the designers and programmers
are willing to work in order to strike the ultimately perfect
balance between great graphics and robust game play.
Striking that balance effectively is what helps to make
a great game. The game was designed and programmed by PopCap
- Astraware is the distributor. There have been several
versions of Bejeweled, each one better than its predecessor,
all of which have added the third element
necessary for a great game: a simple but catchy premise.
Start a game,
tap a jewel then tap an adjacent spot to align 3 or more
stones. You can also drag & drop a
jewel into position. Play against the clock or play with
unlimited time (the game will only end when there are no
more moves). However you play Bejeweled, the high score
reward at the end of the session should be reward enough.
My high score so far is 46,110 but I hear there are high
scores well over 100,000 (what kind of batteries do these
people use I want to know - or is just the magic of an
AC adaptor?).
Cons: Nothing
wrong here! Mind you, we'd like just a few more game
play variations such as configurations which
require matching 4 in a row instead of 3, shape matching
and so on. The main differences between the PalmOS and
Pocket PC versions are the music track and much stronger
sounds effects in the Pocket PC version. We're hoping for
a new PalmOS version with more complete audio. Dragging & dropping
jewels in the Pocket PC version is finicky - tap & select
works perfectly however.
Pros: Plug ear buds or headphones (for the sound effects
or music) into your color PDA and get lost for as long
as your batteries hold out. Astraware has a habit of finding
unique and interesting games for its expanding stable of
titles. Bejeweled is completely addictive. We tested Bejeweled
on a Palm Zire 71, a Sony Clie N760C and a Compaq iPaq
3950 - no problems, clean installation, smooth operation
and hours of uninterrupted game play. Highly recommended.
Letters to the Editor are welcome and occasionally abused in public. Send e-mail to: whine@kickstartnews.com
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