Where hot and cold collideOVERVIEW
Fire N' Ice in reality is called Solomon's Key 2 because it is a prequel to Solomon's Key and it stars Dana the wizard when he was younger and wielded the power of ice as opposed to laying down stones in the previous game. There are 100 levels to transverse where you go around putting out flames with blocks of ice that have been shoved or dropped upon enemies and it only gets tougher and sometimes easier as you progress.
GRAPHICS - B+
The graphics actually prove helpful in helping you play the game for the most part but also at times can be confusing when getting to the harder levels because there are times you do not know what to do next because the level design in some levels gives no information that there are times where you must forgo an enemy at the beginning before you realize you cannot win the level and must start all over. I guarantee that this will happen to you a lot. The most confusing part of all is when you create an ice block on a wall, it will cling to the wall and when you free it, it will stay there. To a more experienced player, it is no big deal but to a novice or a beginner, it can be frustrating if you think about doing a speedrun.
CONTROLS - B-
If you have played Solomon's Key before this game, then there is a big handicap as far as expectations on how to play the game. One thing you will notice is that you cannot jump and both buttons create ice blocks diagonally to the left or right of where you stand. At times you will overshoot the platform you tried to get onto and end up falling onto an enemy and dying or worse yer falling into a spot where you cannot complete the level. It would have been better if you could use one button to jump rather than rely on a nearby platform to go up a level plane. To be more specific, whenever there is a piece of the level or unpushable block or rock that is the same height as you and no object or part of level is above the edge part, you will climb it like a stair. The only exception is if you are going up into a side tube that is above the aforementioned platform.
GAMEPLAY - A+
The best part about this game is the gameplay because it forces you to use your brain to solve the puzzles. The game's box even came with a warning label saying this game will be highly addictive. The objective of the game is to create a single ice block or find any single ice blocks laying around and shove them towards the flames in the level. Once all flames are extinguished, then the level is completed. You can choose which level you want to play at any given time from World 1-1 to world 9-9 but you must complete all nine sublevels of a world to enter the castle for that world and face the boss's flame dungeon. All the odd numbered castles involves putting out all flames as the level scrolls downward with flames on the bottom of the screen that will burn you if you are too late. The even numbered castles will be in a single screen where all enemies follow a single Once all 9 castles are completed, the 10 world will emerge and that becomes playable. Complete the 9 sublevels and confront the final boss. First you must solve the castle which consists of a single flame then confront the boss itself where you must destroy his staff with 5 hits.
REPLAYABILITY - A
If you are looking for hours of entertainment then this is the game for you. If you are looking for more challenges then you can do so by holding the
Select button and pressing B 10 times at the title
select screen and you can play 50 levels 11-1 to 15-10. Strangely enough, these puzzles are easier than the puzzles you faced in the real game.
OVERALL - B
Overall, I give this game a B. I had so much fun figuring out what is needed to beat the level and messing up over and over just to get it right finally. This game will take you on a wild ride.
Graphics
8 Sound
7 Addictive
10 Depth
10 Story
5 Difficulty
8