Aqua Pearls

Fans of Zuma and other arcade style puzzle games will be definitely need to pay attention to this game.

Aqua Pearls is an enjoyable puzzle which will keep you addicted to the screen with your thumbs moving in a blur trying to keep the almost never-ending chain of pearls at bay. As in all match-and-pop style games, you have to make a line of three or more pearls of the same colour to get a winning sequence and indeed score.

You play a rather cute character which rotates in the centre of the screen that is armed with coloured pearls. By rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise you get a full 360 degree view of the chain of pearls that flow in various channels towards the clam-shell. The objective is simple, by shooting the pearls in the right order, you will be able to prevent the pearls from reaching the shell. If you are successful you’ll zap all the pearls before they touch the shell – if not, the pearls will touch the shell and it’s game over!

To make this more challenging, the grooves the pearls follow in each level changes, sometimes this is a spiral which goes one way, and alternatively it will go one way, then the other in a tricky zigzag pattern. As simple as these patterns may appear, they are certainly quite a match for you, with every level getting more and more difficult.

With later stages you will find more colours being introduced in the pearls, meaning you have to work even harder to try and get the right sequence to burst the pearls.

With so many tricky things adding up, you’d probably feel that there’s no way you stand a chance. Fortunately, there are some power-ups which will help you win. There’s the double and triple score boosts, additionally you have improved aiming boosts which improve your line of sight. There’s also a reverse boost which move the string backwards – giving you some vital breathing space to compose yourself and take aim! And, if you’re lucky enough to spot and shoot at pearls with a star in them, you’ll be rewarded with an extra shot. In later stages, you’ll be able to fire bombs and rockets which will burst any colour pearls in or out of sequence. Lastly, the earthquake bonus will shake the entire screen and help you clear the pearls!

As you progress, you will see tunnels and crabs along with other marine animals appear which will mess with the order of the pearls as well as impair your vision. These obstacles are quite difficult to overcome but not impossible and if you practice you’ll find it a little easier to overcome.

Controls are simply left/right to rotate clockwise and anticlockwise, by pressing down, you will do an instant 180 spin and by pressing up you’ll change the order of the pearls you have to fire at the row of pearls.

Overall then, this is a great game which offers good entertainment and addictiveness. It will certainly keep you busy for several hours trying to complete all the levels on offer. Yes, the game’s a little repetitive in terms of what the objective is, but the variety of the design of each game and the difficulty of each level although makes it much more tricky, it doesn’t make it instantly impossible. The games’ graphics are superb and very crisp, and the sounds are very complementary.

Rating 90%

Positives

Great graphics and sounds

Simple controls and entertaining game

Highly addictive

Unlimited lives – so you can complete the game and not repeat yourself

Negatives

A little repetitive

Not much variety to the game and no mini-games

Game progress wasn’t always saved and you’d have to start all over again