Review written by Mike "Sponge" Rubits

Buy Concentrix from Clickgamer

[Editor's note: Since this review was written, Concentrix is now published by eSoft Interactive.  Links in the article have been updated to reflect this]

Upon hearing "Concentrix Gamepak" I'm sure some of the emotions that are usually associated with game packs appear. With the exception of the excellent PDAMill Gameboxes, most of them are usually cheap VB made overpriced clones. This is where Scalene Studios' Concentrix comes in. Classifying Concentrix as a game pack isn't entirely accurate, as they're more variations on an original theme, rather than completly different games. None the less, Concentrix is an idea that I haven't seen in all my years of gaming (limited to 3AM QuakeWorld Team Fortress sessions, admittetly) and it's such an obvious idea, you wonder why it hasn't been exploited yet.

Graphics

A clean interface with an obvious circle-inspired theme make Concentrix easy to look at. Instead of a static logo, it'll actually play out a small game, which changes depending on the game you pick. Quite useful considering I didn't even have to read the rules, the little running demo basically explained it all. Brightly coloured pieces are easy to tell in even low backlight conditions, and the visual artifacts you usually see with rotated objects are nowhere to be seen.

Since the piece colouring is done by the engine, a way to change the piece colour would've been cool to see. This is one feature of the engine that could've definitely been used more. Personally, I'm pushing for a raver mode where all the pieces blare obnoxious colours while loud abrasive techno plays in the background, however I'm having my doubts we'll be seeing that anytime soon.

Concentrix goes for a conservative approach with it's graphics, straying away from extravagent effects and other framerate killers. While this leaves Concentrix a bit boring looking if you're just staring at it, I've found myself too involved in thought to notice. My only other suggestion would be the addition of smooth falling pieces, this combined with a proper collision detection system would make for an interesting twist in gameplay too.

Sound

Being a puzzle game, I was preparing myself to be disappointed. Past experiences dictated to me that there won't be much there. While I wasn't disappointed by Concentrix's audio; it's certainly passable, just the music definitely outdoes the sound effects.

The soundtrack in Concentrix is limited to one song, an ambient techno track with a sampled voice here and there. Of decent length, it doesn't get repetitive too quickly.

Sound effects are basically the usual thumping and clicking that you'd expect from a puzzle game. A chime denotes a level up, and that's just about the extent of it. A couple of different tracks of music are needed pretty badly - some may remember Tetris for the Game Boy back in 1987 had 3 songs (bloody catchy ones at that!) and while they weren't as long as the Concentrix theme, more shorter songs would offer some variety.

Gameplay

Concentrix is an interesting twist on games we've seen a billion times before; Tetris, Dr. Mario are the two ones that are most noticable. This is not to say Concentrix is just rehashes of the same old game, but in a circle, as it includes a few unique ideas, giving you a total of 8 games. There's Tetrix and TriTrix, which as the names imply, are the classic Tetris with both 4 and 3 segments per piece respectively. RainTrix has you matching three of the same colour, with gravity taking it's effect when any segment hits the ground. Dr. Trix is the classic Dr. Mario redone for Concentrix. RingTrix has you dropping pieces that fill up one entire ring, making it a delicate balance between scoring big and staying alive. CoolTrix is a similar idea to RainTrix, except strange piece shapes appear to try and throw you off. RadTrix is a variation of RingTrix, except this time you have to deal with shapes falling in an X shape, only being able to rotate 2 of the opposite segments. Finally, there's BlokTrix, which has the same pieces as Tetrix, however this time you're matching colours, not building lines.

Controls are a bit strange to get used to, this is due to the fact the game takes place in a circle, so it comes down to your perception. Luckily, controls are adjustable, however you're out of luck if you use the on-screen controls as those are hard-coded. Besides these 2 exceptions, Concentrix's controls are the same as any other block game you've ever played, rotate left and right, move, and drop. More indepth pen controls really could've been great, you can't tap and drag a piece into place for example.

Being a hardcore Tetris veteran, pretty much all of the games in Concentrix came very easily to me. The pieces in the first levels seemed to just crawl. There's no way to speed the game up right from the start; Tetrix just isn't challenging unless pieces are flying at you faster than abusive software patents. Per-game speed control would be something I'd like to see in the next revision. It also should be noted that Tetrix only has 8 columns, rather than the 10 in traditional Tetris, so keep this in mind when trying to apply strategies from other games into Concentrix.

That aside, Concentrix is just fun to play, although trying to arrange complex moves tends to make your brain hurt after a while. I've noticed the game seems to work better if you try and unwrap the circle in your mind, but it all depends how you think. For this reason, the casual and light puzzle players might want to stay from Concentrix, or at the least, try out the demo.

One of the more noteworthy features is the replay function. Every game on the high-scores list is auto-magically saved for you to play, simply by clicking on it. Useful for showing off your Concentrix prowess to others, and for the high-score system, which makes sure you don't cheat by actually playing the game out on their servers. Although I don't find myself watching myself play, unless I'm in need of a self-esteem boost, it's a pretty cool feature.

Pros:

• Unique gameplay

• Plenty of game variations

• Easy to use syncable high-scores

• Replays of high-scores

Cons:

• Controls take time getting used to

• Limited audio

• Downloaded replays hard to use

Conclusion:

Concentrix is Scalene Software's first entry into the PocketPC gaming arena, and they've got a unique littke game on their hands. I'd whole-heartedly reccomend Concentrix to any puzzle fans, or those like me who are hopelessly addicted to Tetris. With two new game modes being added since 1.0, you're definitely getting your money's worth here. Luckily, I've had the opportunity to review a lot of great games recently, Concentrix doesn't break the streak so far. Bide your time, Arbitrajeu, wherever you are, I'll be king of Tetrix soon enough!

Score-by-score breakdown

Gameplay:  90%
Graphics:  80%
Sound:  60%

Overall:  80%

Please note that the overall score is more than simply an average of the individual ratings.  Many thanks to eSoft Interactive for providing our review copy.

You may wish to search for more reviews of games from eSoft Interactive. Alternatively, you can view all the reviews written by Mike "Sponge" Rubits.