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Gem Hunter
.: By:
Jason Surguine :: Device
used:
E-125 :: April 8, 2001 ::
Buy this game :.
Update: Review updated on June 12 to
take into account the features included in version 2.0 of the game.
Gem Hunter is a puzzle
game in which the object is to locate the hidden amount of gems on a field of 64
places where they might be. This is done by tapping on the outside edges of the
field marked by arrows to give you hints as to where the gems could be using the
least amount of hints possible.
The way this is accomplished is pretty unique. The arrow that you tap shoots an invisible ray into the board and the result of what the ray did is your hint. The hint is placed over the arrow and is either an "H", the ray directly hit the gem; an "R", the ray was reflected back to it’s origin (where the arrow was); or a Colored Shape, this means that the ray bounced off one or more gems, each time resulting in a 90 degrees turn from where it was headed, and ended up on another part of the board, which is also marked with the same colored shape.
The game now has updated instructions which are very thorough and explain visually and textually what I had explained in my first review. I’m going to leave them in for archival reasons and just in case anyone is still confused on the instructions.
‘Now, I’m going to elaborate on the instructions, because they are really lacking in the game. If you don’t care about the instructions, you can go ahead and skip the next two paragraphs.
For example, if there was a red box on the left side of the board, and another red box in the same vertical position on the right side of the board, the ray hit no gems and continued to the other side of the board. However, if the red box was on the top or bottom of the board, the ray hit a gem and turned 90 degrees from that spot and continued to the top or bottom of the board.
Also, the ray can hit two or more gems resulting in the red box being in a different vertical position on the right side or same side of the board (or even worse it looks like it just went 90 degrees but it actually hit 3 gems). When a ray bounces or glances off of a gem it is important to know that it is bouncing off of the diagonal of wherever the 90 degree turn started (even though it looks like the ray would never have to have moved out of it’s way to hit the gem).
This is important to know, because it applies to the "H" and "R" hints as well. An ray that results in an "H" can bounce off of several gems and them still hit another gem directly. An "R" either means the ray never entered the board because it hit a gem diagonal to it, or it entered the board and bounced of 2 or more gems (resulting in 90 degrees turns each time) and returned back to where the ray originated.
I stressed these instructions so much because they were lacking in the game. The directions kind of explain what each hint generally means, but never elaborates on them. It never really explains what a direct hit or a "glance" actually looks like or is. I’ll correct myself a bit, there is a picture in the instructions which shows the
behaviour of the rays. And it was so confusing that it almost makes no sense if you haven’t read this or gave up on the instructions and just tried playing the game.
The most confusing thing was that it drew the rays of light turning 90 degrees, without even coming close to bouncing or "glancing" off of the gems. Now, it has broadened the width of the rays and improved the clarity of the board so that it is easier to see the difference.
This wasn’t a major issue, but believe me, it probably turned some people off if it seemed to confusing or frustrating to play. Which is sad because once you actually understand the instructions and are able to play, it can be quite fun.’
Another helping addition to the game is a new game option that was added, that greatly improves the learning experience of the game, is an option called Teach Mode. This allows the player to see where the Gems are actually hidden, to see how the invisible rays actually react in the game.
The rest of the options menu lets you change the number of hidden gems from 1 to 7 (1-2, easy, 3-5 intermediate, 6-7 very difficult). An added feature is that you can have the computer select a random number of hidden gems, which is a definite plus and gives the game a bit more variety.
Another added feature is the ability to use a game timer and time your games to see how fast you can finish the game, which in turn saves your best times into your high score area for each level of difficulty. This is an awesome new addition and makes the game much more arcade like and I personally love it.
There is also the ability to turn the sounds on/off, where surprisingly, the default for the sounds is actually
off. There is also the statistics/highscore menu that allows you to see your best scores and how many wins/losses you have for each difficulty level. The game also includes an exit option, not that this is a huge thing with apps like WIS bar and Pocket SQ, but it’s nice to actually have the option, when many puzzle games that come out still don’t.
The screen is laid out with the main board, how many gems you’re allowed to guess with and your current score at the top and a button to start a new game or check your answers for the current one (ends the game). It’s a pretty nice layout and one of the most aesthetically eye-pleasing puzzle games I’ve played.
The control of using the stylus shouldn’t even have to be mentioned in a puzzle game, but I’ll say that it works fine and there are no real bugs with it.
The graphics as I said before are very nicely done, with simply rendered graphic images to represent the board and onscreen buttons over a pleasing blue background. There are also different graphics if you win or lose (instead of just a cheesy windows box popping up saying game over, you lose). This is one of the few puzzle games for the PPC to actually implement using original graphic art using 12-16bit color rather than just using windows plain graphics, usually consisting of 4-6 colors. There is only one tiny graphic glitch that is so minuscule I’m not even going to mention it.
It seems with the new version that AhnDaGo has improved the graphics by cleaning up the playing board a bit to make finding the gems easier. The only difference I found was that the small circles on the board had a minor cosmetic change, mainly to understand the pictures in the help tutorial.
Sound in this game consists of 8 sound effects, I counted them in file explorer. The odd thing is that I never had the urge to turn the sound off, the sound effects aren’t super annoying and don’t really get on your nerves. However, there is still no music. Of course not, why would a PPC game, a puzzle game for the PPC at that, have music? I don’t know, maybe I want something to nod my head to and listen to while I play. If you think that’s silly, or a rare thing to do for a puzzle game, play any puzzle game for any other console system, even Gameboy, and see if it has music. (Who can’t hum the tune from
Game Boy Tetris?). I find it a bit ironic that games like Turjah and
Metalion, which are pushing the PPC graphical limits, are still able to squeeze in and perform playing music at the same time; but a small little puzzle game can’t.
The gameplay is really a lot of fun, once you understand it. It is actually a pretty simple concept, but can be very challenging. Whether you’re trying to see if you can finish it with the smallest amount of hints on three gems (where then it almost resembles a Mastermind clone), or if you’re staring at every hint it can give you and you’re mapping out invisible rays with your fingers, it is still fun.
Overall, I believe this is the most well presented puzzle game for the PPC so far. It has decent graphics, some of the best for a puzzle game; decent sound, the first puzzle game I’ve never had to use the turn sounds off function for; a pretty original idea for a game; an adjustable difficulty level for anyone (as opposed to the choice of super easy or impossible); and enough fun game play to warrant a high replay value.
Pros:
Cons:
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PocketGamer.org score: |
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.: Game category:
Puzzle Games :: Reviews
Index ::
Buy this game :.
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