by Soren Anderson

Created on: July 07, 2008   Last Updated: July 08, 2008

Do you enjoy those Roaming Gnome commercials for Travelocity? If so, then you might like Frozax Games latest offering, Spring Up, which features a garden theme and a generous portion of gnomes.

The game play is deceptively complicated. The basic goal is to catch objects with a paddle. Simple enough, but as Frozax throws in some devilish physics and surprising speed, things get complicated.

The game starts out slow, but quickly gets addictive in the tradition of Balloon Tower Defense or Tetris. As objects fall, they bounce off moving obstacles in unexpected ways that are difficult to master. As the number of objects increase the play becomes more difficult. Each level has a different setup, allowing enough variety for players to avoid becoming bored. While not impossible, the game play is just difficult enough to hover in that sweet spot between too easy and too frustrating.

The graphics are limited. There is no real moving animation in the game. Moving objects are basic shapes of low quality. Some of the bricks are extremely low quality and obviously pixilated.

Appearance is boosted by better looking static objects in the background. These are mostly flowers and other garden themed items to add flavor. Overall, the graphics are mediocre to low quality. However, the graphics quality does not take away from the game. Spring Up is what it is. A person looking for intense, high-quality graphics should steer clear of this entire category. Games of this type depend more on game play than graphics.

The background sound track was a peaceful and somewhat hypnotic contrast to the low level tension the player feels as he or she attempts to catch objects that are taking strange bounces.

The bouncing and catching objects registered average quality, electronic sounds, but were satisfying in the same way that 80's video games, such as Frogger were. The only con was that as objects bounce above and the player is simultaneously catching objects below, the sheer amount of similar sounds can become confusing.

There is not much in the way of creativity to set this game apart from the large number of internet games in this category. The garden theme is the main creative element and is probably the weakest part of the game.

While the graphics and sound are a little old school, the real innovation is the realistic physics of the balls and bricks bouncing around. That realism adds a lot of strength to the game play.

Anyone who likes non-violent, medium intensity games that mix strategy with quick thinking will enjoy this game. If you are looking for a game that contains the state-of-the-art graphics and sound then you will be disappointed. Overall, Spring Up is a fun, satisfying, solid offering for this type of game. Rating: 4 out of 5.

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