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| | Publisher: Grubby Games  Genre: Puzzle & Trivia | | | Min OS X: 10.2 |
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Saturday Morning Much like the graphics department, the audio in Fizzwizzle is up to par with the rest of the game. The songs are fast-paced, young, and reminiscent of SNES/Saturday morning cartoons. In spite of the rotation between tracks on the menus and in gameplay, the scoring can get a little irritating when you’re stuck on a particularly difficult level. Fortunately, Grubby Games included the ability to mute in-game music, so an accompanying iTunes playlist is recommended for long sessions of play.The sound effects are what you’d expect at this point—cartoon-inspired and clean—but they’re also surprisingly detailed. The Professor’s traversing of various terrain produces different effects, and whenever there is movement, there is corresponding sound. This includes everything from flinging the professor into a slingshot, to melting ice with a heat gun. Volcanic Fun After you’ve completed the normal levels, (or kid’s levels if you’re a younger gamer) you can move up to the advanced levels (or normal ones, respectively) where a slew of new challenges await. Given my limited puzzle expertise, I expected to advance modestly through the game, but I was greatly aided by two ingenious features. The undo last move button (default ‘u’) allows the player to travel up to five steps back in time. This feature is a godsend when you have made significant progress in a level and you accidentally plunge off a ledge. The ‘show solution’ button on the other hand, is for the gamer who has pulled out a sizable chunk of his hair to no avail. Actually, it’s not as cheap as it sounds. Click the button, and the computer-controlled Professor will begin to solve the level, but you can stop this walkthrough at any time. Many times, I would utilize this feature not to surpass the level entirely, but to learn a crucial step I was missing, and then figure the rest out on my own. Hardcore puzzle fans can be appeased as well, if the show solution option is too cheap (or tempting) for your tastes, you can lock the option with a password of your choosing. So in spite of my general disdain for games of logic, I had a lot of fun playing this title. Grubby Games did a fantastic job of welcoming in fans of other genres, and providing access for a variety of skill levels. For $20, this is a must have for puzzle fans, and it wont’ break the piggy bank of interested others. Heck, why not download the demo and see for yourself. I’m sure the Professor has a few lessons you could benefit from. Pros • Challenging gameplay
• Colorful graphics and sound
• Plenty of replay valueCons • Lackluster story
• Music can get tiring
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