Are you ready for your next match-three app purchase? Seriously? These days you can browse the App Store without tripping over four or five of these match-three games. So, no one is arguing that the iTunes App Store needs another game riding the coattails of hits like Bejeweled. However, Groovin' Blocks is nothing of the sort. Zoo Games has positioned Groovin' Blocks as more of a jam session than a run-of-the-mill puzzler. With success as a Wiiware title, Groovin' Blocks rides off its own success into the world of iPhone apps.
Spending some time with Groovin' Blocks is like hittin' up your favorite clubbin' scene. OK, enough with the apostrophes. Seriously, if you're a fan of techno beats and pulsating lights you'll probably like this app. Yet, if rhythm is its soul, puzzling is its heart. Laid out in a Tetris-like format, players are made to arrange stacks of colored blocks within an empty room. Matching touching colors of three or more eliminates those blocks, freeing up space for those jiving on down from above. Building off this idea, Groovin' Blocks introduces multipliers and powerups into the mix. Multipliers are obtained by hitting the down arrow simultaneous to a beat vibe scrolling in from both sides of the screen. When a multiplier is activated, it remains active as long as the player continues to nail beats when dropping block into place. Powerups are awarded as blocks with special power symbols on them are place with a beat. Some powerups increase the value of nearby blocks while others explode blocks around the powerup holder.
The game sports 50 levels of jiving action all arranged according to song. Locked levels can be accessed through achievements involving matches, power-ups, and multipliers. Three different difficulty levels - Casual, Experienced, and Hard - are available. Songs have a noticeable Nintendo feel to them, yet each is different enough from the others to make things interesting. The user interface is well arranged; however the instructions boxes could use a little stylish attention in our opinion. Zoo Games has not built in an online scoring system yet, but we think they will be adding these features in the near future.
Certainly, Groovin' Blocks is no off-the-shelf match three puzzle title. It truly has Tetris on the brain, but pulls off enough originality to set itself apart from the crowd. At its current selling price of $1.99, we highly recommend Groovin' Blocks for anyone who wants to bust a move while solving a few puzzles along the way.
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