Overall 6.4 Graphics 8 Sound 4 Addictive 6 Depth 2 Difficulty 1
6.4
I thought Gumbo was stew. All I see is milk, pie, and boys shooting pool. Azul Fria
[red]WARNING: This is a message for the boys... Don't get cream all over the place. These are pixels, guys.[/color]
[blue]
OVERVIEW[/color]
As you can see from my tag line and warning above, don't let this game title fool you. I sure fell for it when I played it the first played it a few years ago. I was expecting related to the food Gumbo but I was greeted by anything but that. I don't mind it being a puzzle game which I like to play it is the other stuff that will make you go "WTF?" or there may be numerous reports of chickens being strangled depending on your gender and/or your preference.
[blue]GAMEPLAY[/color] - 8
I am going to ignore all the naughty stuff for the most part because it is irrelevant to the gameplay save for the bonus game. This game is not really a Tetris clone; it is more of a clone of Columns which I do enjoy thus I was able to whether the storm. Your goal is to match up the descending pieces so that the three like tiles will match horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Occasionally some junk titles will fill up a row on the bottom of a screen to push the pile up but if you manage to match three skulls, the whole bottom row will be removed. That's pretty much the only difference between it and Columns. That also means that there are no such thing as gaps in Gumbo as there is in Tetris.
You will also notice a meter on the bottom of the playing field that starts to fill up every time you get a match and fills up more if you clear a row via three skulls. Fill up this meter and you will play a bonus game of 14-puzzle which shows a naughty girl whole picture is scrambled and you have to shift the picture piece by piece until it is whole before the time runs out. The game will resume with a different background girl.
Two players can play this game and you two will duke it out and try to get more points than your opponent. You will go to the bonus game if one of you fills up the meter and you both play a game of 14-puzzle. The game is over when the puzzle reaches the top of the field and blocks off the point of entry.
[blue]CONTROLS[/color] - 6
No major qualms here with the controls. All you got to do is guide the falling piece into place and switch the tiles around on it and try to match it up with like pieces simple as that. The only thing to worry about is when the game progresses, the pieces start to fall faster and it is hard to gain control. That's the only problem I saw but all similar games are like that. The bonus game controls aren't so bad either, touch the picture square to make it replace the black square.
[blue]GRAPHICS[/color] - 8
Graphics aren't really that bad at all. The reason I gave it a high score than I normally would is because they did a very good job making the women in the background look realistic. Sure they are pictures of real women but converting them into pixels and making them keep their realistic features is awesome. The falling tiles are all very distinctive and are nothing that will confuse you as to which piece is which. I even like the anime-style title screen and high score screen even though they have nothing to do with the gameplay and surprisingly, these are the only two screens in the game that are even kid-friendly. Yet another reason you may get suckered into playing the game.
[blue]SOUND[/color] - 4
I don't really care about the sound that much. The music that plays during the gameplay sounds to much of something you would hear in a Taito game. Way too happy to sound like a game that looks like this. It's ironic that I was talking about pool earlier. When you clear a row via three skulls, you absolutely hear the sound of what happens when hit a pool cue into other pool balls (breaking the game to be exact). The other sounds you will hear is a dude voicing his disgust when the game over and the sound of the game mocking you if you fail to put together the puzzle during the bonus game. (Nya Nya Nya~~~~~).
[blue]REPLAYABILITY[/color] - 6
It all depends on how you look at the game as far as graphics vs gameplay. Some will be turned off by the what the graphics are but those who can focus on the task at hand of matching the pieces should have no problem playing this game. To me, this is just another puzzle game, for that matter this is just another game period.
[blue]DIFFICULTY[/color] - varies by time
There is no difficult learning curve. Once you play, the game you will immediately know what you are doing. The game starts off easy and as you gradually stay strong, the gameplay will start to get faster and it will be harder to get pieces into the right place and then have to switch up the tiles in order to make them match or set it up so a future piece can be matched with. There will be times where a block will fall that it creates a wall that may or may not block future blocks from getting in their corrects spots if you are not fast enough. The bonus games are difficult if you are not good with 14-puzzle or any other #-puzzle games.
[blue]OVERALL[/color] - 6.4
Naughtiness aside, the major factor is whether or not you are a fan of Columns and anything similar to it. I do give kudos for making the background graphics look realistic but i do dislike the fact that the name of the game and to an extent the title screen misleads you into playing the game under false pretenses. Just remember, stay focus on getting points and not on the background and you should be alright.
Graphics 8 Sound 4 Addictive 6 Depth 2 Difficulty 1
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 11-02-12
Review Replies: 0
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