Lines Deluxe review

Another in a long line of Bejeweled successors, Colorbox’s Lines Deluxe adds a new (and welcome) twist to the old favorite. In Classic mode, instead of matching three in a row, you have to move at least five spheres that are the same color to occupy the same line (no diagonals are allowed). Tap a sphere to select it, and then tap the empty square you want it to move to; spheres cannot jump over other spheres, so if they’re blocked in, then that’s just too bad. That’s not the only thing, however–whenever you move a piece, three more pop up randomly on the grid, which are foretold by each color’s markings appearing on a random empty square (useful for planning your next move). You can also undo and redo a move.

Everything remains the same in Extreme mode, except for the exciting addition of 4 Powerups, which you receive by matching 6, 7, 8, or 9 spheres on the grid: Bolt, Bomb, Crossfire, and Extinction. Of course, the more spheres you match together, the more points you get; each sphere that is destroyed by a Powerup adds five points to your score. There are three levels in each game mode: Endurance, Time Race, and Tactic; play for as long as possible, as fast as possible, or play with progressively hard levels, respectively.

Lines Deluxe is an excellent example of quality graphics, as the tribal island theme is seen in every object, from the shiny spheres to the stone-etched markings. Especially fun is to watch are the lightning flashes that appear when the spheres move and when Powerups are used. Even the sound effects are evocative of Indiana Jones and ancient temple booby traps (the music, on the other hand, is less than impressive). And not only is it nice to look at, it also forces you to think a few steps ahead, very much like chess; with three new spheres appearing after every move, pretty soon you’ll have nowhere to move to. Lines Deluxe is an addictive puzzle that’ll have you racing against yourself in no time. If you’re not convinced to get this game app for a mere $0.99, there’s a Lite version to try for free.

Here is a video demo of the Lines Deluxe app on the iPhone

AppSafari review of Lines Deluxe was written by Julie Guan on January 21st, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Fun, Games. Page viewed 6020 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.