Columns

Columns Description

Infogrames are releasing Sega's classic Columns and Chu Chu Rocket in the same week. It's all about using your head instead of relying on your reflexes. It's a tough choice! This updated version of Columns gives players the original, plus three new past-paced ways to play. Columns is similar to heavyweight puzzle champion Tetris in a loose kind of way. Three coloured gems fall from the sky and players must join up three of the same colour to make them disappear. Lines can be created vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. You can change the order of colours as the blocks drop before deciding where to place them. Points are awarded for making complete lines disappear and by creating combinations. It's the combinations that make Columns a fantastic puzzler. To be a Columns expert it's important to start thinking two or three moves ahead. Because when a set of gems disappears, any rogue gems will fall down, and these can join onto a two-block, creating a chain reaction, domino effect. Learning how to set these situations up and how to set them off will stand you in good stead for the 2-player link-up battles. If this was just Columns, it would be a good-but-not-great title. But for the Advance version a whole assortment of new features have been crammed in to give even more value for money. The Flash Columns mode features preset puzzles, where you need to remove one specific block in the fewest possible moves. Other new features include 26 Spirit Stones that grant unique powers which can be unleashed in the two-player mode, or when playing directly against the computer. These powers range from 'stop' to 'laser' to 'reverse direction'. These magical powers add a further tactical edge to an already addictive puzzler.