Platform: PSP, Nintendo DS

Genre: Puzzle

Number of Players: 1
 

There goes the PSP again.

The puzzle game frenzy continues on the PSP. Just a month or so ago, we had the chance to look at an interesting twist on the popular Bejeweled game, Puzzle Quest, and this proved to be a rather addictive title floating around the home, but it looks like it’s days have been numbered. Yet another Bejeweled clone has shown up, and in this instance, replicating the originator of what has become a phenomenon doesn’t necessarily mean that it is any less addictive. As a matter of fact, it might be even eat more time than what was expected.

7 Wonders of the Ancient World is a familiar game, but just like any of the Bejeweled games that have been released, there is a bit of a twist to keep things fresh. The same basic idea is here however, and you need to match three or more of the same icons. Once you’ve done this, they will do a little more than just disappear. Each of the playing fields has an objective to it and behind the symbols and icons are runes which will break apart, showering the ground below with building materials. The objective aside from clearing all of the sphere is to get the necessary material to the workers below so they can construct some of the ancient structures of the ancient world. The pyramids, Atlantis, and fantastic structures in Babylon are just some of these.

Three matches is good, but you can certainly do better. Should you manage to clear four tiles, you’ll be granted a lightning ball. This will eliminate an entire horizontal row as long as all of the squares in the grid are somehow touching. Fire balls on the other hand, something granted when you successfully clear five tiles at once, will destroy all tiles both horizontally and vertically. Once you’ve used four power ups, you will be given a golden flower which will clear tiles on the playing field.

But, it can’t just be as easy as clearing out tiles to complete the stage, can it? Most certainly not, and you are under the gun as there is a time limit in each stage. Another thing that will make passing the levels a bit tricky is that each one of them also has a cornerstones and capstones that must be moved to the bottom of the screen. The problem is that they cannot be moved themselves, so in order to get them to the workers you must clear out the tiles they rest atop. As you progress further into the game, this becomes incredibly difficult to do, though you’ll find that often the Golden Flowers are quite handy in accomplishing this portion of the game.

7 Wonders of the Ancient World also brings players a few different options in terms of gameplay. Story mode will let you work through assisting in the creation of the ancient marvels. Completing a stage will give you a percentage of the project that is currently finished and once you’ve manage to get your creation built, it’s on to the bonus stage. Clearing stages here will make them available for the games free play mode and should you finish the story mode itself, new levels of difficultly will be unlocked with three in all. At this point, having once again lost the PSP to my wife and her puzzle fanaticism, she’s managed to make her way to the second level of difficulty, but not before I at least managed to log a good four hours or so myself, though quite honestly, probably quite a bit more. 7 Wonders of the Ancient World is very easy to get wrapped up in and lose complete track of time, something that’s always a sign of a good puzzle game. Much like the Free Play mode is Rune Quest. Here you are also limited to the levels that you’ve already cleared, but the difference is that you must clear a specific type and number of runes from the playing field in order to finish the level.

For all the good that 7 Wonders of the Ancient World includes, there are a few spots that it could have stood to have improved. These aren’t gameplay based, but instead just additions that could have made the title better than it already is. There isn’t any multiplayer mode or online ranking, and while the game doesn’t suffer because of the lack of this, it could have been a nice addition. Also, I’m quite surprised that the Game Share option wasn’t included. While everyone has at one point or another played some version of this style of game, having the ability to see how this game stands apart from others is something that is always a huge benefit to players who might be curious but don’t want to risk spending their hard earned money on a game that they might not enjoy. Actually, there shouldn’t be a concern about that, and 7 Wonders of the Ancient World is going to get anyone addicted from the first stage. The last annoyance is that you have to complete a campaign in story mode in order to be able to save, and this can be bothersome. Let’s say just for the sake of argument that after coming home from work, you want to pick up the game and play. Your significant other however has stayed home from work for the day after staying up too late the night before and has been playing all day, but is in the middle of clearing one of the areas. Well, they certainly aren’t going to let you ruin their hard work, so you’ll just have to wait. I’m not writing from experience here or anything.

The Bejeweled engine isn’t one that can easily be messed up, and you’ll find that 7 Wonders of the Ancient World looks just as good, if not better, than many of the other version of this style of game that you will find. There isn’t just movement in the playing field, but around it as well. You may notice your workers busily scurrying around, trying to collection bricks in order to build their masterpieces. There are some rather lavish backgrounds as well, so this isn’t just about giving you something to look at in the foreground, but just about every potion of the game. This is quite a drastic change than what you may find in other games of this type.

One thing that 7 Wonders of the Ancient World isn’t going to teach you is what it’s like to share. A battle has once again erupted over the PSP, but I suppose that was inevitable. Sure, you may have played this same game a time or two under different titles, but 7 Wonders of the Ancient World makes it just as much fun as it has been and probably even more addictive than ever before. It’s just one of those basic, easy ideas for a video game that you can’t help but get pulled into and lost for far too long, and if companies keep releasing games of this nature, I might never have access to my PSP again.
 

-mike-