Celso
Riva from Winter
Wolves sent me their recent game, Spin Around -- which
was a first because no one sends me games, particularly because
my site has only been live for one month :-) Yes, I was more than
happy to receive it but I don't feel obligated to be nice in the
review. Luckily, I don't need to be anything but
nice about it because Spin Around did NOT disappoint.
Upon first glance, Spin Around looks much like many other fun puzzle
games where you must match same color balls or tiles that get eliminated
from the board to earn points. That alone, to me, is fun, as it
is for millions of puzzle lovers out there. The thing, however,
with Spin Around, is that yes, you have to match these balls on
a board but you have the added attraction of being able to spin
the whole board around left or right depending on your strategies
or, in my case, my random whims. (I'm sort of a haphazard-like player
usually.) The balls fall to the bottom of the board once it completes
its rotation; this is supposed to help you but if you calculate
incorrectly, could do the opposite. You also have the convenience
of shifting rows of balls left or right which adds to the intrigue
of the game. These moves will help you immensely unless you aren't
really paying attention.
When I think about it, Spin Around is very much NOT like all those
other match-same-tiles kind of games at all but rather, more of
a next-generation-souped-up-on-gray-matter-hormones kind of puzzle,
and this discovery is a pleasant surprise.
There are three modes of game play. My favorite is "Puzzle,"
where a board with strategically placed balls appear, and you have
a certain amount of moves allowed to eliminate all of them before
you can pass to the next level. It gets the brain working and flexing
and I need that. (Note: the demo version does not allow you to play
in this mode but just fork out the $19.95; it's worth it.)
"Time Attack" is another mode where you have roughly 10
minutes to score as high as you can. When I say roughly I mean it
because during this 10 minutes, if you skillfully match mega balls
and do other fancy maneuvers, you will actually earn some bonus
time, so I can't say it's exactly 10 but that works for me. What
happens here is you eliminate some balls, but while you begin to
do so, the board refills with the requisite amount of balls: 50.
Once you fill the board with the required 50, you are then asked
to eliminate as many of the remaining balls as possible, of course
this is all within your approximate 10 minute limit.
The third mode is called "Top Score" where you must appropriately
get a top score! You aren't timed so you don't feel the pulling
stress of achieving your back patting impressive score but you still
have to eliminate the balls and hey, why not do that as fast as
you can? The twist here, though, is that you are penalized each
time you shift rows (10 points deducted) or if you spin the board
(100 points. gone!) Don't worry, just concentrate on making the
high scores and then see your name in lights on the Winter Wolves
Online Hiscore board.
The music included in Spin Around at first wasn't my cup of tea
because it reminded me of a mind altering philosophical science
church and I do NOT need to be brainwashed! Though, admittedly,
it grew on me, then when I turned the sound off, I sort of missed
it. Hey! Maybe it IS brainwashing me! Just kidding.
Celso reminded me to mention that his game was created with the
game engine PTK, which,
if he had any time, would evangelize the hell out of it. The direct
result of using the PTK game engine is obvious in the game play,
as it's smooth, seamless and solid.
Overall, Spin Around is impressive. In this world of millions of
puzzle games, this one really stands out: it takes a basic standard
game and spins it around in all directions, literally and figuratively.
Spin Around by Winter
Wolves Game Studio is $19.95
To Download the Free Demo of Spin Around Click
here
Rated
5 out of 5 beachballs
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