Super Collapse 3

On a basic level, there's not exactly much that can go wrong when transfering a extremely well-developed puzzle formula to a platform. I mean honestly, if you got the very central mechanics working, the game will either be fun for you or not and that'll depend on your preferences for the genre. Padding the perimeter with fancy visuals or music (like a Lumines) is definitely a nice gesture, but it wouldn't make any difference if the gameplay was broken.

So on that note, there's not much to say about Super Collapse 3. Nothing in it will inspire particular enthusiasm, and the proceedings will be just entertaining enough to keep you coming back until the next temporary puzzle fix comes your way. It knows its audience - it's cheap, it's inoffensive and derivative - and it still manages to go the extra mile by adding in lots of variety along the way.

As with past games in the series, the stack of colored blocks is steadily rising and your goal is to touch groups of three same colors or more to make them disappear. If you let the stack reach the top, the game ends. All that works perfectly fine here, with the bonus of stylus controls being specifically intuitive.

The general quest mode will have you going through a bunch of different worlds, none of which you'll care about. It's just an excuse to lay out an even pacing of the games different "twists" on the gameplay, and it works ok. My favorite gametype is called "Relapse", which is basically the puzzle game's version of the infamous closing spiked room from Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom. In it, there are blocks rising from both the ceiling AND the floor, and if these two stacks slam together it's game over. It's a constant rush to try to keep each row in order, and it's the game at its most engaging. Many other such modes pepper the game, from shifting floors and simple 'clear the whole screen' challenges. It keeps things mixed up, which I suppose is the most you can ask for.

Along the way you'll gain some currency which you can use at the stores to help you in the puzzle modes. Items such as colored bombs which clear out a specific block type can be extremely helpful in the more difficult levels later on. All of it is just little details that help flesh out the game into a full package, but it does little to really make it stand out from the pack. It's not like I'm asking them to throw in arbitrary platforming levels, but games like Planet Puzzle League have really gone the extra mile with an appealing presentation and awesome online play.

The game lacks even the simplest of conveniences, like single card multiplayer ... which is a shame, because there's no way I would purchase this game twice just to play with another person. In absence of these features, it just feels like a sort of "entry level" puzzle game that is distracting, but ultimately won't stay on your playlist for very long.

There's not much more to discuss about the Super Collapse 3... it is what it is, and that's not exactly a bad place to be. It leaves such a small impression on me, particular as someone who loves puzzles games and is informed about the alternatives, so it's hard to really tell people to go out and get it.

That's the long and short of my experience - what's here works, but it just leaves me feeling completely unimpressed. It seems as if it was just quickly vacuum sealed to meet the minimum effort required, and then shoved out the door. So I find myself feeling like the Neutral President from that one episode of Futurama, at the end of my critique. "What do you think about Super Collapse 3, Your Neutralness?" "I have no strong feelings one way or the other." "Ok, would you recommend this game to potential buyers?" "All I know is that my gut says maybe."