INTRODUCTION

    As I’ve
mentioned in previous
reviews, I’m a puzzle game fiend. My Pocket PC is loaded with everything
from Bejeweled to Qtris.
And recently, I’ve been entralled with PopCap‘s
new game, Rocket Mania. Then along comes Escape Velocity from Clickgamer.
A strangely familiar puzzle layout, with a hint of the same theme (ie
rockets), but a completely new twist. Fill the rocket up with fuel, launch
it, rinse and repeat (adding upgrades along the way). Read on for the
full review.

WHAT’S HOT

   Graphically,
Escape Velocity is a gem. Sharp and bright, the menus and game tiles
really give the game a high quality feel.

SETUP

   The install routine is normal. This review was
done on my iPaq 2215 running XCPUScalar, using my 512Mb CF card.

PROGRAM FEATURES

    First, let’s review the list of features
(copied verbatim – more or less) that Clickgamer
has on their website:

Frantic puzzle action
– get those Jules Verne rockets off the launch pad before it is too
late!!
Excellent music and
sound effects.
Earn the right to fly
bigger and better rockets.

   When you start Escape
Velocity, it rotates the screen (into a landscape mode), and begins
loading. The load time ends up being approximately 10 seconds. After
the delay, you are greeted with the main menu. A nice addition is
the battery meter (which is shown in just about every aspect of the
game).

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Tapping the Options menu allows you to adjust the volume for music
or sound effects.

    Choosing
the About menu shows the standard info (oddly missing is the version)
along with the registration page.

    The instructions
menu displays a single page of, well instructions. These seem to
be copied verbatim to their website
and Handango.

    Next is High Scores
(very important!). The keyboard that is used for the registration
process is also used for entering your (lowercase) name into the
high score table. While this provides continuity, it also presented
a problem. The "Enter" arrow acted as the "OK"
button, and the "OK" button acted as a backspace. The
????????? entry is what appears if you get a high score but do not
enter a name. Lastly, the high score table represents all levels
of difficulty in one. Lastly is the Exit button – which, of course,
exits the game. There really isn’t any other way out, and you can’t
use any other features without exiting the game. If you are in the
middle of the game and need to look up a phone number, be prepared
to enter your name into the High Score table – because there is
no save feature when you exit either.

LET’S PLAY!

    On
to the gaming. Clicking the New button then brings up a seperate
menu from which you can determine the game difficulty (easy, medium,
or hard). You can also choose Exit to return to the main menu.

At the beginning of
every level, you see the Starting Mission Level XX screen. A tip:
You can start tapping the peices _before_ this text disappears,
giving you an extra couple of precious seconds.

    Once
the game has started, you have access to the 3 buttons found in
the lower right corner. The first is the End Game button – DO NOT
PRESS THIS UNLESS YOU WISH TO END YOUR GAME! No, it doesn’t ask
if you are sure you want to quit – it just quits, gives you the
high score table (if you were lucky enough to get any score at all),
and then it’s back to the main menu. Next is the Options button
– this is the same as the Options found on the main screen. Lastly
is the Pause button (ignore my upgraded rocket for now, we’ll cover
that in a moment *wink*).

    To
play, you tap on the pipe pieces in order to rotate them. Blue pieces
signify that they connected in some way to the fuel tanks on the
left side. Red pieces signify that they are attached in some way
to the fuel lines on the right side. Green pieces are connected
to both sides (and will quickly disappear, to be replaced by others).
Occasionally, you will see a miscolored peice (as in the screenshot
below) due to the fact that that piece was connected before it dropped
(it refreshes as soon as the drop finishes).

    The
green bar at the bottom left is your time while the red bar on the
right indicates your progress towards "Escape Velocity".
As you get closer to the end of the level, the rocket begins to
smoke (engines beginning to fire).

Once "Escape
Velocity" is reached, the launch pad unlocks and the rocket
blazes away (with the theme from 2001), followed by the congratulations
screen.

Failing to reach "Escape
Velocity" before time runs out, you receive the infamous "Game
Over".

As you progress through
the game, you will receive rocket upgrades (first one is at level
5) and multipliers at various points on the left side (fuel sent
through those points receive additional points).

HELP SUPPORT

    Along
with the in-game instructions. Clickgamer has a support section
on their website (as of this review, no FAQ had been written for
Escape Velocity). I sent an email to Clickgamer early in my review
asking for a screenshot-enabled version (Pocket ScreenSnap was crashing
if I tried to take a timed screenshot over 30 seconds when playing
Escape Velocity, so I couldn’t get screens of anything but the first
30 seconds of the game). Somehow my email got forwarded to someone
who was on holiday, and then the response that I received only contained
screenshots (that I already had). *grumble* dotPocket
to the rescue! The support team was friendly and apologetic for
the delay, however. So I can’t feel too terribly bad.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    size=2>According to Handango,
the game requires ARM/XSCALE 32MB+ PPC/PPC 2002, Windows Mobile
2003.

BUGS AND WISHES

   
I
found no fatal errors (other than the bizarre problems with ScreenSnap).
But my wish list is short.

• Add
  a warning to the end game button
• Slow
  the game timer down a little bit, and then slow down the rotation/removal
  animations so you can enjoy them longer.
• Need
  a faster load
• Fix
  the keyboard issues with the highscore table
• Add
  different high score tables that correspond to the level of
  difficulty chosen.
• Add
  either a save game feature or give the ability to drop back
  to the today screen so you can accomplish other tasks without
  losing your winning streak.

PURCHASING

   
You
can buy
this software directly from Clickgamer
or from Handango.
The price shown is $9.95.

PROS

• 
  

  Great graphics and music

• 
  

  High replay value

• 
  

  Price

CONS

• 
  

  Slow load time

• No exit warning from
  game
• High score table tracks
  entire game (rather than individual difficulties)
• Almost too fast to play
  and enjoy (making it difficult to progress through levels)
• Full screen mode keeps
  user from accessing functionality in the rest of their unit
• No save game available

OVERALL IMPRESSION

   So I
listed a lot more CONS than PROS – is this a bad thing? In the
case of Escape Velocity, no. Clickgamer
has done an awesome job with this game, it’s just that there are
a few items that need to be addressed to make it even better.
For the price ($9.95), most of the problems can be overlooked
because the game runs so smoothly, looks great, and is stable.
If my wishlist came true, then the CONS would all but disappear,
making this game an absolute must-have for all puzzle gamers out
there. I still would recommend this game to the hardcore puzzlers
out there – if for nothing else but to get in on the <$10 price
before they fix everything and raise it a few $$.

Have you played Escape
Velocity? See something that isn’t quite right? Tell us what you
think! Click on the Discussion Link below.