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by Mike Featherstone Introduction In my opinion, the game of Gaxian
TriBall from Gaxo Interactive is unique. In today’s market many games are available, running on all sorts of
computing platforms and operating systems. Most of them, however, can be
grouped together into one of a relatively small collection of categories
defining the sort of game-play they offer. Whether a first-person-shooter or a
sports simulation, games can normally be easily categorised by genre. I suppose
that that may also be true for TriBall, but personally I’ve never come across
another one like it and so don’t really know what genre to put it in.
Based around a simple model, the properties of magnetism, inertia and
elastic, Gaxian TriBall offers game-play that manages to be both engaging and
entertaining while maintaining a simplicity of design and interface that is
quite satisfying and particularly appropriate to a handheld platform. The game
certainly meets my criteria for handheld gaming in that it can be picked up and
put down at very short notice without losing the thread of play or needing to
memorise some form of complicated mission scenario. The game is centred on a circular playing arena in which is a set of
three coloured balls linked together by what are effectively elastic bands.
Around the edge of this arena is a circular track on which a pair of magnets is
fitted. These magnets may be manipulated by the player and positioned anywhere
around the rim of the arena so as to drag the joined set of balls in a
particular direction. The magnets are effectively polarised so that each will
attract only one of the coloured balls but have no direct affect on the others
(the magnets are coloured to indicate the ball they will interact with). Etched
onto the floor of the arena is a set of three circles, each corresponding in
colour to one of the balls. (I have a sneaking suspicion that these circles
also have some magnetic properties, in the earlier rounds at least, as the balls seems to fall into them quite readily. This remains a
theory, however, as I have yet to get conclusive proof.) The objective of the game is simple. Using the magnets, the magnetic
properties of the balls and the relative strength of the elastic joining the
balls together, the set of balls must be manipulated in such a way to get each
ball positioned within the appropriately coloured circle on the arena floor at
the end of the round.
As time ticks by, indicated by a small green ball circling the timer
wheels, your magnets will be enabled and disabled according to the settings you
have configured for them. When 'on' they will attract 'their' ball causing it
to move toward them and stretch the elastic links with the other balls. This,
of course, potentially causes th the other balls to
move as the elastic tries to contract again. When the magnets are switched
'off' the balls will continue to move but the remaining motion is governed only
by the elasticity of the links and the inertia of the balls. Eventually, everything will come to rest and that is the end of the
turn. Altering the positioning of the magnets, the sequence of the on/of
switches and the lengths of time each magnet is on can generate different
effects on the linked set of balls. As you rise though
the levels, the challenges become harder and all of the alternatives begin to
come into play. Additionally, the elasticity of the links between the balls is
also adjusted as you climb the levels. Initially, all three bits of elastic are
identical, but later on, individual links change for a more forgiving
substance. Your control of the balls with the magnets must therefore be
adjusted to take account of the new interaction between them due to the
weakened elastic. Two main forms of play are possible: Tournament The player represents his/her species against a series of alien
(computer AI) contestants, taking it in turns to attempt to complete a game.
The victor is the one who wins the most games of each round and it is he (or
she) who progresses to play against more difficult opponents at a higher level.
Obviously, if you are not the winner then the game terminates there (whether
the AI players go on to compete with each other within the bowels of your
device is up to you to imagine for yourself). Challenge This is also a single player game in which the player has to complete
each game within the number of available turns in order to progress to the next
round. Completion of all of the rounds at a given level will allow the player
to progress to the next level. There is also a third, 2-player, mode that is simply a Tournament game
without the computer player. Analysis Despite the idea being simple, the implementation is anything but if the
size of the main application is anything to go by. Weighing in at a hefty 5.5Mb
TriBall is not a small application by any stretch of the imagination. Whether
this is all due to the very high graphics resolution, as some have accused, I
doubt. A lower resolution, smaller footprint, game is also supplied (about 1Mb)
in which the balls appear (to me) to behave differently for a given applied
magnetic power sequence such that I would suggest that some of the immense size
of the game is due to a refinement of the physics. Either way, this is not a game for the small of memory or for those with
older legacy devices. Personally, I keep it on a card as storing it in main
memory eats up a fair proportion of the space I keep aside for running
applications. Playability-wise, I'm doing well on the challenge games, having reached
the penultimate level but Tournament play is another matter entirely. I have
still to beat the first alien opponent and I look to be getting nowhere toward
this goal. Still, the game has retained its challenge despite my inability to
beat it in one mode of operation. In fact, it is having these multiple modes
that gives it much of its strength and also provides part of the classification
problem. Were this a simple competition game, I would have deleted it weeks ago
without much of a second thought - I'm just not good enough to let an opponent
get every second go at the challenge. Were it simply a challenge game, however,
I would probably have completed it by now and it would also have lost it's attraction. As it stands though, it provides both
games, each of which I continue to attempt at different times, and has thus
remained installed for an extended period. I can't tell you whether it's worth $12.99, that's your call. I can say
that it has a demo mode available in the early levels, though, so a quick (or
rather long) download should give you enough experience to make the choice of
whether to buy for yourself. It was enough to convince me so why not have a
look and see for yourself. |
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