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Plazmoids!
Since the ancient time,
there was in the center of the galaxy a great star named Plazmotronia,
which unique powers served as a source of energy for all galaxy inhabitants for
millions of years. Alas, the great star
was very old, and one day it collapsed, scattering into millions of pieces. These pieces-plazmoids-became
the major source of energy for the intelligent races of the galaxy. However, they were so small and difficult to
collect, and energy needs so great, that races had nothing to do but fight for
these vanishing resources. Thus began
the war for the most valuable resource in the Universe-PLAZMOIDS! And so the adventure begins… Plazmoids!
is an original game idea that is like no other
game on the market today. It will change
the look of the arcade genre! Plazmoids! is a new
arcade style game, you have enemies to destroy and resources to collect but
that’s not all. Plazmoids! is also a game that is based on
magnetism and momentum. It is not simply another space-shooting game – now you
will not just fight enemies, upgrade your ship, and collect valuable resources,
but you will also interact with various objects according to the laws of
magnetism and momentum.
Game Overview
You are in control of a ship that
scours the universe looking for that most precious commodity-Plazmoids. You must
collect all of the Plazmoids on each level and return
them to your base. To do this you employ
the use of a magnetic beam that allows you to gather one or more plazmoids and return them to your base. Along the way though, you’ll have to fight
with other ships also looking to collect Plazmoids
and escape begin damaged or destroyed by other space objects like meteors,
asteroids, comets, and mines. As if that
wasn’t enough, you have to do this while watching your fuel consumption. As you use the thruster, you use fuel, but be careful-the faster you go the quicker you burn your
fuel. Not to worry though, you can
refuel at your base, not only is this the place to
refuel but also a safe haven. You cannot
be attacked, nor can you attack from your base, but it is where you can plot
your next move. To complete the level
you must collect and deliver to your base all the Plazmoids
on the screen.
Game Play
You can control your ship through
the use of the stylus, 5 way navigation, or analog
controller (Zodiac specific). Any method
works well; it’s whatever is comfortable for you. In the beginning I was using the stylus to
control my ship but soon turned towards use of the analog controller to gain
quicker control of the ship. Again this
is the users’ preference but the developer has at least added the ability to
choose which type of control you would like to use. Control of your ship is something
that takes a little practice but is quickly learned. Since the game employs the use of laws of momentum
and magnetism you’ll soon find that controlling your ship requires an easy
hand, move to quickly and you’ll be out of control, move to slowly and be a
vapor cloud at the hand of your enemies.
Once you have learned to control your ship you can use the laws of
momentum and magnetism to your advantage to collect and bring home the Plazmoids. In order to collect Plazmoids! you must
sometimes attack other ships, you can do this with any weapon in your
arsenal. You begin with
a cannon but can powerup to torpedo, sonic
wave, or laser by getting a weapons upgrade while playing the game. Other powerups are available, they are earned by destroying enemy ships to
reveal the powerups.
These powerups include: Boosted magnetic beam,
New Weapon, Increased Fuel Tank capacity, Upgrade Special Weapon (adds a power
level), Super Weapon (boosts your current weapon), Super Magnet, Super Shield,
Fire Madness (your ship inflicts damage to other ships by touching them), Ghost
Mode (gives you the ability to fly through objects, including your enemies) and
finally you can earn an additional life. Graphics
This is one of the many aspects of
this game that shine! The graphics are
just stunning! The attention to detail in the ships, space
objects, and space itself are very nice indeed and the animations are
fluid The game
is compatible with any PalmOS 5 handheld, it has
resolution for devices using 320 x 320 and 320 x 480 resolution. The game also supports landscape mode for any
device that has OS support for landscape mode, such as the Palmä Tungstenä T3, Tungstenä T5, and the Tapwaveä Zodiacä device.
I personally played the game on my Tapwave
Zodiac and I must say that this is one of the most impressive games I’ve seen
to date, the graphics alone are worth checking it out!
Controls/Options
There are a wide array of controls
and options for the game. First off you
can control the volume of either the sound or music; they each have individual
controls to adjust the volume. Next you
can enable or disable several other parts of the game that add to it but are
not necessary, just more eye candy. Items such as particles, (star) background, animation, bonus tips,
and vibration. Although such
items are not necessary, they DO add to the gaming experience and I wouldn’t
recommend disabling them unless you are having issues with performance. It is here where you can also select your
screen resolution, either 320x320 or 320x480. Another great aspect of this game is
the ability to customize the controls even on a wide variety of devices. You can assign hard keys or in the case of
the Zodiac trigger keys and analog controller to perform different
controls. The controls you can assign
are: Primary weapon, Special weapon, Brake, Thrust, Pause, and Change
weapon. You can also choose how you’re
going to fire your weapon either by using an assigned hard key or by use of the
touchscreen, even then you have the choice of single tap or double tap
using the touchscreen. Once you have customized the
controls for your ship, you’re ready to go! Sound
As mentioned previously, the
graphics are stunning. Second only to
the graphics are the sound and music.
The sound and music that have been incorporated definitely add to the game
experience. The music tracks are quite
good and at times can be mesmerizing and the ship sounds and explosions
compliment the graphics quite nicely. Replayability
I have said this many times before
while reviewing games. One of the most
asked questions is, would you replay this game? If a game is too easy and cannot entertain
you or keep you intrigued, you quickly become bored and quit playing. If the game is too difficult you become
frustrated and quit playing. The trick
is to find that mix between a game being too easy or too difficult. This is not a problem with Plazmoids!
First and foremost Plazmoids! is just beautiful to look at and listen
to and the story line behind the game is entertaining. The idea of controlling a ship using momentum
and magnetism is obviously an original idea and gives it added credibility by
being unique in that aspect. Because of
the different options you set, you can control aspects of the game that make it
comfortable for you. You set the
controls that make it fun for you to play, not too hard. In the
future, I can see the possibility of “expansion packs” with new missions for Plazmoids!. If this were to ever become true it would
easily add to the replay value.
Conclusion Finally,
was the game fun? The answer to this is
a resounding, YES!!! The first
thing that grabs you is that the idea of this game is original, like nothing
out there! That alone makes the game
entertaining since it will challenge you to develop and master new gaming
skills to “win” the game. The game idea
is complimented by its superb graphics, attention to detail, outstanding sound
and music that will blow you away, controls that are simple and intuitive to
use but may take a while to get used to, and options that allow you to tailor
the game that is comfortable for you and is extremely replayable. This is very well conceived and designed game
that will definitely be one of the top games to have for your Palm device. Summary (out of 5 stars)
Gameplay
Graphics
Control/Options
Sound/Music
Replayability |
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