Columns
System: SMS
Release Date: September 1990
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Puzzle
Clear blocks in a calming fashion in Columns! Control a vertically oriented block of three jewels, fruit, dice, and shapes as you drop them in place. Get three or more like colored blocks in a row and they will disappear, dropping the blocks on top of them down. Rack up the points by creating big chains. But be careful, as the more blocks you clear, the faster they drop!
You can change the order of the blocks with Buttons 1 and 2. Button 1 brings the block from the bottom up, while button 2 brings the top block down. I’d like to say it’s easy to remember this when things start to get hectic, but it’s not. Changing the difficulty to hard adds an extra colored block, while putting it on easy removes one. After a great while, a magic block will appear in the portion telling you what will come next. This will erase all of the blocks of the color you land on, very useful for making big chains if you’ve got a good board set up. (22:20)
Outside of the classic and a two player game, you can also play the Flash mode. This challenge has you trying to clear a specific block in the fastest time you can. The default option is starting with a five jewel high board that you have to break through to get to the bottom. This is a different kind of challenge if the mellow original game isn’t enough for you. Once you reach the top of the board, it’s game over and you’ll have to start over again.
Graphics: 1.5
As you might expect, the graphics are very plain, and the backgrounds are totally uninteresting.
Sound: 1.5
The music sounds good, but you only have the song you’re given in each mode. The sound effects didn’t bother me at all.
Gameplay: 3.0
It’s simple, effective, and addictive. Even after a game over, you want to give it another shot.
Difficulty: 3.0
The speed increases as you break more blocks, this forces you to make split second decisions.
Fun Factor: 3.0
If you like chill puzzle games and you have a Master System, this is for you.
Overall Rating: 2.4
Columns earns a C+. When I was a kid, I loved Columns on the Genesis and see that is coming up soon, I’m certain it will fare better, but the Master System version was just fine.