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jp's Around the World in 80 Days (DS)

[June 7, 2023 11:37:08 AM]

I had fun playing this - well, as far as I made it (level 42 from a total of 80 or 81? Going from the game's title). Yes, it's a Jules Verne-inspired match-3 game. There's a story, that sort of unfolds between levels, each level takes a day and you're essentially travelling around the world (9 locations - I only got to see 5, England, Paris, Cairo, India, China). Each day you're trying to collect some object by getting all the pieces that are on the gameboard and must drop through the bottom (they fall off automatically when they reach the lowest row).

It's pretty standard for a match-3 game, there are tiles that are frozen, locked so you can't move them (but will drop) and a very limited number of power ups (score and time and lives). As you make matches you fill up a super-meter that lets you detonate one tile or, if you fill it twice, detonates all the tiles of a color. There might be a 3rd level super, but I never got close to filling up the meter a third time without using it. Levels are time-limited and I only lost twice. And, I mostly used the super to clear a level - as a last-resort sort of thing.

I was surprised by how "conservative" the game is in its power ups and variations. It really plays it quite straight, and it works - is fun, even though the tune for each location got tiring really fast.

As an added bonus, you play the game holding your DS sideways (like a book) so you get the benefit of a taller screen. This is a constant reminder of how cool a platform the DS is - and how many ways people found to use it for (better) gameplay experiences...

Last thing, the copy I have is German and I bought it in Poland. I'm not sure it ever saw release in the US?