by Peter Ebanks

Created on: July 03, 2008   Last Updated: September 25, 2011

PUZZLE HERO: TIME KILLING AT IT'S BEST

There are many puzzle games similar to this (Bejeweled being the most popular one that comes to mind), but Puzzle Hero by Genimo Interactive sets itself apart by combining an early Final Fantasy-type role playing interface with colorful characters and a simple yet effective, storyline. Puzzle Hero puts an extraordinary new twist on an overly ordinary matching, puzzle game. This is definitely a time-killer waiting to happen.

The interface is very well organized and the creators also took a proactive approach to explaining the rules by having pop-up help screens help you along the way, during your first go around. The story line follows a girl running errands for her mother around her town. It just so happens that evil tomatoes, lizards and other forms of "monsters" get in your way, and you need to kill them with your heroic puzzle solving abilities. The "monsters" you encounter are actually pretty cute and creative, if you can get past the snarls and the look of malice on their faces. The color work for the background, avatars and the accessories are on par with your upper echelon, Internet based time-killers, but what keeps you playing the game is the addition of the storyline and journey your character takes through the town. The puzzle then becomes a tool you use to complete the journey. In the puzzle, you can get money, health, power-up items, and defensive items as you journey through the map of your character's town. I actually found myself thinking about what else this girl could encounter and more importantly, what else I could buy with all this gold.

The main drawback I had was the looping music. The composition fit the game, but after hearing the same tune over and over again, I eventually had to mute the volume. If there could be a different track for each chapter, it would've allowed me to play the game much longer, but anything looping for more than one chapter seems to get repetitive and down right annoying. With that said, I thought that the change in music when you reach a boss, really stood out because of all the looping.

RATING: 4/5
Overall, a well thought-out and executed game but lacks music tracks and additional avatars, especially male avatars. Adding the old-school role playing format really enhances the gaming experience for those people that already know about Bejeweled and similar games.

Learn more about this author, Peter Ebanks.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.