Piyo Blocks 2 (iPhone)
iPhone integration (About)
- Save state: Yes
- iPod music: Yes
- Status bar: No
- Version: 1.1
- Price as reviewed: £1.19
- by Big Pixel Studios
We can’t fault a developer for putting out a good match3 game; we even reviewed Call of Atlantis recently and found it highly surprising as it brought us back to like the genre again. However, the problem is that there are many such titles available now, and for our money we’ve always preferred to play Smiles; feature-rich, cute and almost exhaustive. Piyo Blocks 2 doesn’t quite beat Smiles on its home turf but it is certainly a solid effort.
The game is certainly only one of a handful that supports what is known as “floating matches” in Smiles; the ability to pull off an extensive combo rather than watching the game cascade blocks down until it runs out of matches in that immediate area. Happily, it extends into the power ups that you can win by creating matches of four or five; a bomb that destroys up to nine tiles, and a column clearing block if you can clear an empty space below it. Because you have to collect the little Piyos (and level up when you get a certain number—dependent on the mode) it’s in your interest to keep the combo going as it also extends the time you’re allocated.
Piyo Blocks 2 has a variety of modes that each bring a new challenge; Piyo mode has you collecting the target number of Piyos to level up; Hyaku mode has you collecting Piyos until you collect 99 of one, then you level up; Time Attack mode gives you 4 minutes to score as many Piyos as possible, and finally Three Second mode gives you three seconds between each move—fail to match within this time and you lose.
Perhaps the best addition is the inclusion of WiFi/Bluetooth versus mode which we found worked very well. We especially like the various attacks that you can perform when you’re doing well and finding combo after combo; there are four of them that definitely throw a spanner in the works for your opponent!
Graphically, the game is impressive; the graphics are much more refined and smoother than the first game but manage to retain an individual style. The game doesn’t need to be pixellated to be retro; its bold colour palette, distinctive characters and chirpy Piyos keep it great fun. We’re not too keen on the included music but at least you have access to your iPod library.
In all, Piyo Blocks 2 doesn’t quite replace Smiles; that came out over a year ago and is still the definitive article for the iPhone; even with the multiplayer addition, which is something that we can only see ourselves playing once or twice if only because the iPad offers a richer two person experience. But that isn’t to say that it isn’t a good game. There’s a lot of effort gone into this, but for the time being it’s not as good as its competition.
Grade: C, Good
Good but not great; especially when its competition came out over a year ago boasting an even more impressive feature list.
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