Genre: Puzzle Game
Game Play: 2.8 / 5
Aesthetic: 4.0 / 5
Total: 6.8 / 10
The Good:
Works well as a Bejeweled clone - Colorful graphics - Animation looks great - Catchy music - Fast pace - It's free(!)
The Bad:
Difficulty spikes up after a few levels - Distinguish blocks is hard - Dependent on luck - No pause option - Not much replay values
Even since the time Bejeweled invaded the world of casual puzzle game and came out victorious, many other game designers want to follow in their footsteps. MetroGames is one such company.
The game play is simple, match 3 of the same colored blocks and you score points. You also get bonus blocks by matching 4 or 5 of the same color. Points are added to a bar which you will advance to the next level if it is full and in contrast, you lose if it becomes empty as points drains away as time fades.
The first 2 or 3 levels are easy, as the amount of points drains per second is not a lot, but as you advance just a few more levels, you will realize that is not the case. You will need both a keen eyes and luck. While you can't do anything about the latter, it is difficult to spot the correct blocks as they all look either too similar or too confusing. One example would be the bombs, as each colored block has their own unique bomb block.
Properly organized and stylish looking screen
At the very least, one game round would most probably last longer then Bejeweled Blitz, due to Blitz's 1 minute limit. Also, Biotronic spots cool vector graphics and upbeat music to match its biotechnology theme rather then Blitz's boring mechanical voice that comes without background music.
There is also the hint option like Blitz, but you would probably want to stay away from that, as using that in level 3 and beyond can easily cost you a loss when points drains like no bodies' business.
Like most Facebook game applications, there is a sidebar to keep track of your score and ranking among your friends. Only your highest score so far will be recorded so there is no worries to get a lower score then your previous high score. But unless you are really, really bored and have absolutely nothing to do, you would not want to keep playing until you refine your skills to get to the first place.
You can view you and your friends' score and ranking at the bottom
Because of the high difficulty, after scoring quiet a decent score, you probably won't want to go through the hell of squeezing your eyes to look at the all-too-similar blocks and keep shifting your mouse like a Wushu master before the final second determines your doom. It is fun to play it once in a blue moon though, but just not fun enough to keep playing.
Biotronic © MetroGames, All rights reserved.
Image from Biotronic Fan Page, Biotronic Application Page
Originally posted on 5 July 2009, edited on 13 September 2009.
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