| Introduction
I first encountered Egg Mania well over a year ago,
when Kemco sent me a Beta copy for evaluation. Now,
after a few hitches plus a name change (it was previously
called Eggo Mania), we have the finished product.
GamePlay
Egg Mania plays a little like Tetris, but the fact
that you have your eggs on ground levels gives you a
little more control over your wall building. As pieces
tumble down from above, it's your job to create a series
of platforms from the pieces in order to reach a hot
air balloon and win the game. Of course, you'll be tempted
to simply pile up the various shapes quickly to gain
height, but this simply results in the foundations crumbling,
bringing you back to where you started.
You'll also encounter dangers depending on your environment,
so being close to a volcano will cause boulders to appear
from nowhere, while an ocean setting means the odd shark
will try to take a bite out of you. None of these setbacks
will put you out of the game permanently, but they can
knock you from your perch and waste valuable seconds,
allowing your opposition to race ahead.
As the game progresses, your opponent becomes increasingly
devious in their steps to slow you down. Without giving
too much away here, it's always wise to keep an eye
on what the other egg is doing, as predicting their
next move could prevent you losing ground yourself.
The gaming types are varied, and there's at least
one to satisfy everyone's needs whether you require
a quick fix, a more in-depth championship, or a knockout
challenge. One of my favourite modes is simply titled
'Bomb', where you must constantly pick up bombs and
throw them at your opponent's wall until it's destroyed
and they end up in the water. Obviously, they're also
throwing 'live' bombs at you, so if left for more than
a couple of seconds you'll find yourself in the water
as well.
Controls
This is one of a growing number of titles with a
reasonably steep learning curve as far as the controls
are concerned. This alone could all but destroy a promising
title except for one thing--the tutorials. Egg Mania
quite simply has some of the best tutorial sections
I've ever seen. Unlike some other titles, it doesn't
simply tell you the basics and let you get on with it.
Instead, every single gaming mode has an option to tutor
you through a whole level or stage of gameplay. It's
a unique feature for a puzzler but a welcome one, which
will hopefully encourage other developers to do the
same.
Graphics
Back when I first saw this game I was truly amazed
by the visuals, which are not only superbly rendered,
but also wonderfully designed. The backgrounds to the
various environments are stunning, and a clever use
of color and light sourcing gives all of them an appealing
three-dimensional quality. The various eggs that inhabit
the game can best be described as 'Rayman-esque', and
the lack of any limbs makes their onscreen appearance
and animation very humorous.
Sound & Music
Egg Mania really is an all-out audio feast and as
a result, can feel a little overwhelming at first. It's
not that the various sounds and music is bad, it's just
that there is so much of it. A quick trip to the options
menu will allow you to alter the audio to your own taste.
The music is just as you'd expect in a puzzler, and
is made up of the usual soothing background tunes. There
are also some speech samples of the various eggs sounding
like kids on helium. It's all very pleasant and works
well within the confines of the game, and is far from
the worst audio we've ever heard.
Final Comments
Overall, Egg Mania is a really enjoyable game, and
Hot Gen appeared to have made a GBA title that's truly
accessible to all. The gameplay is exciting and addictive
while remaining very simple, thanks in part to the thorough
on-line tutorials.
It's not entirely original though, as what you really
have here is a revamped version of Tetris surrounded
by cute characters. But you could argue 'if it ain't
broke, don't fix it' and if you subscribe to this notion,
then Egg Mania could be just what you're looking for.
It's undoubtedly one of the better puzzlers to grace
the GBA and the two-player option is enormous fun.
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