Magic Beans from Pixelthis Mobile - Flash Lite Game Review

Magic Beans
Developed by Pixelthis Mobile
Released: 1st Quarter 2008
Availability: Verizon Wireless (via Smashing Games/Smashing Content), voeveo.com
Requirements: Flash Lite 1.1 and above

Note: I did the review on the Nokia E90 which runs Flash Lite 2.x. However, I have Flash Lite 3 with recent firmware update!

"... kind of like a fun take on a block Tetris, only in reverse, and with lot more imagination ... " - Scott Janousek







Review by Scott Janousek

Overview

Peter Vullings of Pixelthis Mobile sent us (frame27) a new game called "Magic Beans".

Given our review of Rune Mage earlier last year, we were glad to see yet another puzzle title from (Peter and his posse).

After playing for a bit, I think of Magic Beans as kind of like a fun spin on block Tetris, only in reverse, and with lot more imagination.

Here is a bit of narrative on the game:

"While experimenting with beans in his secret underground labratory, Dr. Blah creates out-of-control Magic Beans! Try to control Dr. Blah's creation before things get out of hand. A frantically addcitive game that turn your perspective on falling block games upside-down!"

Pixelthis Mobile
www.pixelthismobile.com

Ok. Let's roll up the sleeves and get into it. :)

Objective:
The objective is to get the highest score possible by forming groups of four or more (magic) beans of the same color within the "garden grid". Upon matching, the correctly colored beans will magically disappear and allow the beans that are stacked above to drop down.

You add beans to the screen by selecting a place in the ground (the lowest level of the garden grid). There are 6 positions to plant to. Planting in a spot where vine already exists pushes the vine up by one position and so forth.

You control where to plant your beans by using your devices up and down keys to rotate a "planter" (which always consists of 2 magic beans at a time). Moving left and right will adjust your position within the area where you must plant your beans.

Scoring Points:
Points are scored by the total beans you manage to match and how they are matched in groups (horizontally or vertically, not diagonally, but also not necessarily "in a row").

As time progresses, the game speed increases, adding a bit of challenge to the title. Every twenty turns will be a small increase, so you need to be quick on your foot and get your beans planted!

The game ends when a player allows one of the growing vines of magic beans to get to the very top of the screen where the falling carrots come from.

At the end, the beans all turn into carrots and your score is totaled and can be seen on the leader board (on a separate version it has been said, that there may be network submission if you are planning on competing against other player scores).

Carrots, anyone?:
Did I mention the falling carrots? Ah. Yes, the (very evil) falling carrots ... these get created when magic "acid drops" fit the ground when you run out of time, or at pivotal points in your game as you attain points.

Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to deal with carrots. They are kind of the bane of my existence when I play (right now). I won't be eating carrots this week. :)

Combos:
One more thing, there are "combos" in this game to attain. This happens if a group of beans is removed and thus consequently forms another group.

This is considered a combo, and when it happens you get a special pair of same colored beans which, when planted, all beans and carrots next to them (but not diagonally), will switch to be the same color.

This enables, you the player, to get some potential mega score!

Scoring:
Speaking of Score, it's broken up by the following:

A score of 100 is awarded by forming four beans, and every extra bean or carrot in the group adds more points (10 I believe). For example:

4 beans: 100 points
5 beans: 110 points
6 beans: 120 points ... and so on.

If two groups form at once then they are scored separately and then added. According to the documentation; in a combo the group score is also multiplied. The combo multiplier is x2 for a single, x3 for a double, etc. Additionally, a 2000 point "clear screen bonus" is awarded if a screen is completely cleared of all beans and carrots.

The Good

The MIDI soundtrack for the music is very cute and appropriate for the game setting. The game play is very addicting once you understand the rules and start to play.

The graphics are very appropriate and highly detailed (see screenshots above) and give the game a very "mystical sort of feeling" that is a trademark of the work that comes out of Pixelthis.

Attention to detail, such as the animated bird in the background is also a nice touch.

The Bad

The instructions are a bit lacking, so there is a bit of a learning curve. This is especially true of buttons and how they interact with the game.

Lots of rules for this game. A full on tutorial would probably be well suited for this game, or perhaps even a step-by-step level where a player "learns" as they play that level.

Also, a tiny nit-pick, we found the "Quit" menu a bit hard to see on the opening screen (when highlighted), since it is green on green (just a switch to blue sky background should fix this).

Other than that, the game is well done, and I'm sure there will be folks attracted to it's initial game graphics, and hooked by the unique game play!

Review by Scott Janousek

Flash Mobile Game Review: In the Crib with Rob and Big

In the Crib with Rob and Big
Developed by Zodal
Released: February 2007
Availability: OTI (Over The Internet)
Requirements: a Flash Enabled PSP

"This game is not to be missed as it represents perhaps one of the first Flash games created for the PSP platform for a major entertainment company!"

Review by Scott Janousek










Overview:

"In the Crib with Rob and Big", developed by Zodal (a New Zealand based Flash Mobile development company) has released a PSP Flash game loosely based on the MTV Networks reality TV show characters of the same name.

The game is a “sidescroller” with both old school 80's arcade style play and retro pixel graphics. The objective of the game is to earn points as Rob performs various skating moves, avoids obstacles/enemies, all while grabbing various "goodies" along the way.

At the end of each stage with Rob, the other character, "Big" then contends with various bosses, in which he must fight to help send Rob to the next level (of which there are currently three we know of). The object of the goal score as many points as you can on three unique levels of game play.

The game starts with a splash screen on which the pixelized representations of the Rob and Big characters are displayed. The graphics here set the tone for what you are to expect from this casual, yet rather challenging game. On the main menu screen, the user can select play the game, check out the scoreboard, toggle sound, or get the game credits. Clicking on the "Play Now" screen, leads the user into a rudimentary "How To" (Play) screen that explains the basic PSP keys to be used in the game. Clicking continue here bring the user directly into Level 1, "Beverly Hills".

The game play consists on using the left and right arrow keys to control Rob's skating speed as he moves from left to right in each scene presented. Using the "X" key makes Rob jump over obstacles. Using the "X" key in conjunction with arrow keys, such as when jumping off onscreen objects makes Rob perform skating tricks that earns him points. If you fail to clear an obstacle or mess-up you lose energy from your health bar. Lose enough energy and it wipes out one of your 3 total lives for game.

After each stage is cleared with Rob, Big is faced to fight some baddie. The controls here consist of various key combos that must be performed in exact precise order and within a quick elapse of time, otherwise Big looses health. If the user executes enough moves, Big defeats the enemy and Rob is able to go to the next level. As you progress throughout the game the levels do get harder, and are quite challenging given this is a casual game.

This game is not to be missed as it represents perhaps one of the first Flash games created for the PSP platform for a major entertainment company! It’s a fun, yet simple to play game with pixel based graphics reminiscent of early Sierra games. If you're expecting a nice casual and fun game, then you won’t be disappointed. If you're seeking a Tony Hawk like experience with 3-D graphics galore … well, look elsewhere!

Also, for those without a PSP, there is an alternative web version that you can play directly from your desktop at:

http://www.dcrobandbig.com/home.html

Here are some highlights of the PSP game:

The good:

Graphics: The quality bitmap graphics really set the tone for this game, and really make it one of the first high quality PSP Flash game created for a big name in the entertainment industry (MTV Networks) … that we know of, that is. We love the graphics and style!

Sound: The sound effects are excellent and the custom soundtrack created by Sam Trevethic and Nick Robinson, who form part of the well known New Zealand drum and base band Shapeshifter, really makes the game experience fun. We can’t imagine this game being quite as good without the sound! Kudos to the sound engineers on this project!

Performance: Truly, we can tell that this game has been greatly optimized for the PSP. “In the Crib” is more in lines of a Flash Lite game, than a true desktop game … but for good reason, the PSP has quite a few device constraints and limitations that Zodal has addressed quite nicely here. Once you start playing you won’t notice much performance lag at all!

Challenge: There are 3 fairly unique levels which will challenge you and keep you from getting immediately bored with game. The magic number 3 also makes it an ideal casual game for the train, or other places where you have a few minutes to kill.

The bad:

Instructions: The game instructions are not very encompassing. The game help is unfortunately not available on-the-fly, but rather served up before each game sequence begins. There is no pause during game either. There is no way to save or load your game. But is there a need? There are only 3 levels game play so perhaps not.

Game Play: In regards to game play, we did find it to be particularly challenging on the various "boss" levels with the Big versus baddy duels. You must be quick with key combos, or get your $ss handed to you! Perhaps this is intended ... as Big may not be “fast” but he sure packs a mean punch? We do not know. However, the key combos could be a bit larger here and the difficulty begs to ask the need for easy, medium, and hard settings, particularly in this area one area of this otherwise great game.

We also had one instance of the game freezing during a critical point in the game. We are not sure if this was a genuine bug, or perhaps some flakiness with either the Flash Player or PSP browser. It was not a regular occurence, so we believe it the later.

Installation: First time users to Flash based PSP gaming will have to do some digging in order to get the game installed and running within the PSP browser (but to no fault to Zodal). Unfortunately, at this time, no standalone and self executing Flash content is supported on the PSP. However, for those who are stuck, Zodal has graciously provided some help instructions which can be found here:

How to install "Rob and Big" (PDF)

In regards to the Rob and Big website ... we would have also liked this site to cater to the PSP, but currently it does not. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed in the near future, as it would perhaps allow another method for players to easily download as well as access the game online. We don’t blame Zodal here, as distribution is handled via another party.

Review by Scott Janousek