One of the earliest types of puzzles appearing on the Nintendo DS (in titles such as Super Mario 64 DS and Feel the Magic: XY♥XX) was one similar to the Tiger electronic game Lights Out. In this type of puzzle, your goal is to make all the panels on a grid one color. Each panel is double-sided, with opposite colors on each side. You accomplish this goal armed with a single move: tap one panel, and it and all surrounding panels flip over. Hudson's new puzzler Honeycomb Beat is based on this formula, with the biggest change being the shape of the panels—but also adding a smattering of new ideas to try to breathe into it new life.
In Honeycomb, a "beat" is a tap you make on any of the hexagonal panels. Normally, beating a panel will cause it as well as its six neighbors to flip over as if a wave was radiating out from the beat panel. In the simplest levels of gameplay, this is all you'll ever do. Getting deeper into the game, you'll find special panels that mix things up a bit.
The two simplest and frankly least-interesting panel variations are count panels and non-vectors. The former is a panel with a countdown number emblazoned on its surface; if either beat or hit indirectly, the panel will not flip but the number on its surface will decrease, serving as an obstruction to completing the puzzle. Non-vectors are a special panel decoration (called a "vector label") that do nothing when the panel is hit indirectly, but if beat, will flip only themselves over—leaving all surrounding panels alone.
There is one further type of variation that is actually pretty cool: the vector. A vector panel bears a dual-headed arrow that is either horizontal or diagonal, and when beat, flips itself as well as all other panels lined up with the arrow. Even more interesting is what vector panels can do if they are indirectly flipped; if the direction in which they are flipped is incidental to the direction of the arrow, the direction will actually change. Using this mechanic, some truly mind-bending puzzles can be created. On top of all this, some puzzles give you vector labels (both non-vector and vector) that you can drag from a toolbox to any panel on the playfield—figuring out just where to place these is a real exercise in thinking ahead.
The basic mechanics are used in two modes: Puzzle and Evolution. Puzzle is a set of 200 puzzles (of which Hudson claims 20 are designed by puzzle fiends Nikoli) where you have unlimited time but limited moves to complete each. While there are some really good puzzles in here, many of the remaining 180 are just painfully easy. I can appreciate the idea of putting some introductory challenges in and ramping up the new gameplay elements in slowly, but there are just far too many in this collection that require almost no thought to solve.
Evolution mode is slightly reminiscent of Puzzle League, with new panels to clear scrolling up from below the screen. To keep your stack from rising to the top of the screen, you'll clear lines by making the panels in a line all one color. All the elements from Puzzle mode are here, except that you now can make as many beats as you need to in order to keep ahead of the rising stack of panels. Big points are awarded for clearing multiple lines at the same time, if you can manage to set it up. It's an interesting way to play, but it doesn't really have the compelling draw that the well-done puzzles from Puzzle mode do. Clearing the requisite number of lines in each level of Evolution mode is more an exercise in reflex than thinking ahead, despite the fact that your performance will earn you a comparison to one of a set of creatures on the evolutionary scale in the title's obligatory-for-DS brain workout tie-in.
The package is tied up neatly with various selectable musical themes, music visualizers for the otherwise-useless top screen, and background sets that you'll unlock as you progress. They're all pretty stylish and fun to check out as the game announces they're available. They give the game some personality, something that helps divorce it a little from the scent of "been there, done that" hanging in the air. At its budget price ($20 or less), and with the pretty neat inclusion of the vector labels, this just might be a puzzle collection worth picking up to fill those otherwise empty five-minute slots in your life with a little bit of brain-teasing.
In Honeycomb, a "beat" is a tap you make on any of the hexagonal panels. Normally, beating a panel will cause it as well as its six neighbors to flip over as if a wave was radiating out from the beat panel. In the simplest levels of gameplay, this is all you'll ever do. Getting deeper into the game, you'll find special panels that mix things up a bit.
The two simplest and frankly least-interesting panel variations are count panels and non-vectors. The former is a panel with a countdown number emblazoned on its surface; if either beat or hit indirectly, the panel will not flip but the number on its surface will decrease, serving as an obstruction to completing the puzzle. Non-vectors are a special panel decoration (called a "vector label") that do nothing when the panel is hit indirectly, but if beat, will flip only themselves over—leaving all surrounding panels alone.
There is one further type of variation that is actually pretty cool: the vector. A vector panel bears a dual-headed arrow that is either horizontal or diagonal, and when beat, flips itself as well as all other panels lined up with the arrow. Even more interesting is what vector panels can do if they are indirectly flipped; if the direction in which they are flipped is incidental to the direction of the arrow, the direction will actually change. Using this mechanic, some truly mind-bending puzzles can be created. On top of all this, some puzzles give you vector labels (both non-vector and vector) that you can drag from a toolbox to any panel on the playfield—figuring out just where to place these is a real exercise in thinking ahead.
The basic mechanics are used in two modes: Puzzle and Evolution. Puzzle is a set of 200 puzzles (of which Hudson claims 20 are designed by puzzle fiends Nikoli) where you have unlimited time but limited moves to complete each. While there are some really good puzzles in here, many of the remaining 180 are just painfully easy. I can appreciate the idea of putting some introductory challenges in and ramping up the new gameplay elements in slowly, but there are just far too many in this collection that require almost no thought to solve.
Evolution mode is slightly reminiscent of Puzzle League, with new panels to clear scrolling up from below the screen. To keep your stack from rising to the top of the screen, you'll clear lines by making the panels in a line all one color. All the elements from Puzzle mode are here, except that you now can make as many beats as you need to in order to keep ahead of the rising stack of panels. Big points are awarded for clearing multiple lines at the same time, if you can manage to set it up. It's an interesting way to play, but it doesn't really have the compelling draw that the well-done puzzles from Puzzle mode do. Clearing the requisite number of lines in each level of Evolution mode is more an exercise in reflex than thinking ahead, despite the fact that your performance will earn you a comparison to one of a set of creatures on the evolutionary scale in the title's obligatory-for-DS brain workout tie-in.
The package is tied up neatly with various selectable musical themes, music visualizers for the otherwise-useless top screen, and background sets that you'll unlock as you progress. They're all pretty stylish and fun to check out as the game announces they're available. They give the game some personality, something that helps divorce it a little from the scent of "been there, done that" hanging in the air. At its budget price ($20 or less), and with the pretty neat inclusion of the vector labels, this just might be a puzzle collection worth picking up to fill those otherwise empty five-minute slots in your life with a little bit of brain-teasing.