The simplistic art style (it seems more appropriate with this game to call it art style rather than graphics) was very enjoyable and well-suited to the game’s feeling. This can be quite annoying when the puzzles are simple enough that you’re finishing them in a few seconds, and a soundtrack which played continually from one puzzle to the next would have been much preferable. While avoiding that problem, however, Color Zen’s music did have the annoying feature of stopping and starting after you’ve completed each puzzle, jolting you out of its relaxing atmosphere somewhat. Pullblox, another puzzle game on the 3DS eshop, by no means has a bad soundtrack, but the constant repetition of the same two and a half minute song while you’re stuck on a difficult puzzle can grind to the point of motivating you to go on a ‘Falling Down’-esque rampage.
It also manages to avoid the trap that many puzzle games fall into, which is to make the player sick of the game’s soundtrack due to the same song being repeated for ages. Comprised of chilled electronic tones, it changes when advancing from chapter to chapter and develops into a tenser track when you reach the harder levels. One aspect of the game I particularly enjoyed was the soundtrack. It is here that Color Zen betrays its origins as an iOS/Android title, intended for audiences with shorter attention spans than those of us who own real games consoles! But if one accepts Color Zen’s pace and gives it five minutes at a time, they’re in for a treat. However, this simplicity can work against Color Zen, as it quickly starts to get repetitive during longer play sessions. While those games can often require you to spend upwards of 20 minutes on a single (albeit particularly complex) puzzle, this is the type of game that lends itself to playing in short bursts which makes it perfectly suited for when you have a few spare minutes to fill. The gameplay style is new and unlike the sort of puzzle games I usually play, such as Pullblox or the Professor Layton series. Being a big fan of puzzle games, I was excited to play Color Zen as it seemed like something completely different – a simple and relaxing experience based around matching colours and shapes.
0 kommentar(er)
