Serial Number Rocket Mania Delux
Ivy Auteri
Classic Mode is played in levels, each of which begins with a new grid of fuse tiles and requires the player to launch a minimum number of rockets within a set time limit (indicated by a row of lanterns across the top of the screen). Launching multiple rockets at once causes coins to fall onto the field; collecting five coins allows a rocket to be upgraded by one level, starting at 1 and ending at 10. Once all rockets have been fully upgraded, the player scores bonus points for every additional coin collected. Picking up a clock freezes the timer briefly. Higher-level rockets award more points when launched, and the value of a launch increases when multiple coins are collected at the same time.
Strategy Mode has no timer or coins and begins with a full grid of fuse tiles. The player is given a limited number of matches at the outset, using one every time an unbroken left-to-right path is made. Additional matches fall onto the field after every launch of three or more rockets; once a match appears, the player must collect it within the next three launches before it vanishes. The game ends once all matches are used.
In order to connect the fuses to the rockets players click on each section to rotate them. Once the connection has been made the rockets will explode in colourful style complete with sound effects and once a certain number of rockets have been connected and detonated players move onto the next level. While the pace is rather gentle at first it doesn't take long for things to speed up to a frantic pace that will really keep gamers on their toes. Completing this game may not exactly be rocket science but gamers of all ages are sure to find that Rocket Mania has plenty of fire power and appeal.
Strategy: This mode is untimed and slow paced. Practice and get high scores by getting multiple rocket launches. You have a certain number of matches and have to get more by setting off three or more rockets to drop more matches, Then pick up matches by "burning up" the fuse tile it is on. When you run out of matches its game over.
If you enjoy simple but hugely addictive puzzle games like Tetris and Pipe Dreams, then Rocket Mania is an absolute must have for your collection. It's got a wonderfully elegant concept but then adds in a few clever mechanics to create a near perfect puzzler that is guaranteed to gobble up your lunch breaks. The idea here is to get the flame from a fuse to the rocket on the other side of the screen and which requires you to rotate blocks in order to connect them, thus allowing the fuse to travel along the entire length. It's very similar to the aforementioned Pipe Dreams in many ways but has enough of its own ideas to make it stand out. You've got three modes of gameplay to try out, including Classic where you need to launch a certain number of rockets in a given time period, Arcade which is faster paced, and Strategy which is more thoughtful, offering a bit more in the way of deep tactics. Whichever mode you play, the whole idea is basically to rack up as many points as possible and which is achieved by creating combos and grabbing bonus tiles with coins and so on. Rocket Mania really is a lot of fun in a small package. It gets a lot of points by offering different styles of gameplay as variations on a theme, so if you want to play hard and fast, there's a mode for you but if you want to go slower, you're also in luck. The game is very simple to pick up but hard to master, like all great puzzlers, but it's also got that elusive one-more-go factor in spades so if you have any interest in the genre, you should grab this now.
aa06259810