| Nintendo's Touch! Generations series powers ahead with yet another top quality DS title to appeal to kids of all ages. Actionloop is a fast paced'action puzzler'in which players have to clear multi-coloured gemstones as they roll along looping tracks.The game is Tetris-simple and promises to be as addictive as that previous groundbreaking puzzler. Players will need no prior'gaming knowledge'to get into Actionloop, and no doubt become hopelessly hooked. They merely require some thumbs, a brain, a smidgeon of skill and a damn quick reaction-time. This of course is the beauty of Nintendo's Touch! Generations philosophy, with each game in the series teaching both gamers and non-gamers alike that simple, one-more-go gameplay is universal and knows no barriers.The basic premise is this'players use the DS's stylus to flick gemstones as they roll along the tracks. Players need to create a combination of a minimum of three same-coloured stones in order to make them magically disappear. Yes, we've heard it before in countless puzzle titles, but you just know that when this simple mechanic is executed well, as it is here, you'll still be feeling those little pangs of pleasure each time you clear a bunch of gems in a wonderful chain explosion of happiness and joy.Actionloop boasts four main modes - Challenge, Quest, Checkmate and Versus - spanning both single and multiplayer. The single player Challenge Mode is fairly straightforward stuff, with the player required to clear as many gems as they can flick together before they reach the end of the track. The more gems you clear, the higher level you reach and the faster the stones roll. Simple, genius, joy! What's more, after each ten levels you'll encounter a'pusher rocket'which, if hit with a gemstone, clears all the space in front of it, providing vital space on the track.Quest Mode presents you with a staged task to eliminate a set number of gemstones off the track, and clear the stage, thus unlocking the next quest. Depending on your level of skill, you are awarded a metallic gemstone at the end of the track with the final aim of clearing all 60 quests with a gold stone or more. Checkmate mode presents you with 60 static puzzles, each with a predetermined order and number of coloured stones. Simply eliminate the stones within a limited number of moves to complete the task.And the multiplayer icing on the Actionloop puzzle cake' Versus mode. Play with a mate using a single DS cart to see who can get the highest score. As host player, you can set up the parameters for the game, including the time limit and track and any handicaps to equate the players'experiences. You can also enable special items, including an awesome multi-coloured bomb that can detonate all gemstones of a single colour.Even better, if both you and your pal own copies of Actionloop, you can challenge each other to find out who can stay alive the longest'but with additional Blockers and Attack items it won't be as easy as you think! So, for example, if you create a chain elimination, blocker stones without any colour appear on your opponent's screen. The greater the chain sequence, the greater the number of blockers sent to upset your opponent's strategy. Attack items have a variety of effects that are triggered by hitting a single gemstone. For example, Pillar Attack enables you to throw a variety of gemstones on your competitor's track, or you can cause a smokescreen with Smoke Attack, obstructing the view of your opponent's track. Like Tetris meets James Bond! |
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