Ghost Mania
Score: 86% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Legendo Entertainment Developer: Teyon Media: Download/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Throughout the years, I've been addicted to many different puzzle games for various periods of time. Some, like Tetris, have managed to hold my attention for years. Ghost Mania has a bit of a Tetris feel to it in that you're working with blocks that fall from the top, but that's about as far as the similarity goes. Ghost Mania is an interesting new puzzle game that stands on its own merits. Usually you wouldn't think of a game with ghosts as being cute, but the ghosts in Ghost Mania remind me more of Casper or Slimer than anything really scary. Given that this is a puzzle game, cute ghosts make it a bit more family friendly. There's no reason that people and children of any age shouldn't play this game, especially since the graphics should appeal to anyone. Once you get them unlocked, there are quite a few choices for backgrounds that you can choose from. Personally, I didn't really notice the backgrounds after the game started. My one complaint with Ghost Mania is the choice of colors for the blocks. You start out working with pink, blue, green, and light grey blocks. This would be fine if the other blocks in the puzzle mode weren't dark grey. Sometimes, if I wasn't paying close attention, I'd get the pieces mixed up. It would have been nice if that light grey had been something more distinguishable. I did really enjoy the background music. It's peppy and upbeat, which always works well in any puzzle game. Plus, when you're getting closer to the top (and nearer to dying), the music speeds up letting you know that you're in trouble, just in case you hadn't noticed it on the screen already. As far as speaking, well you're not going to get any voice acting, but you do get a very amusing yet sinister laughter when you release the ghosts. Turn off the lights and in a silent house, it'll make your skin crawl just a bit, in a good way.
Gameplay: When you first launch Ghost Mania, you'll choose which save file to use (you have three different save files available). The concept is the same for all the various ways to play Ghost Mania. You have a board where there are colored blocks at the bottom and colored blocks at the top. You have to drop the blocks from the top in pairs to figure out how to clear the ones at the bottom. When you first start, choose Puzzle Mode and you're given the choice between Tim (blue guy) or Becky (red girl). You find out that they're "ghost guardians" in charge of keeping the ghosts in line. Unfortunately, one of them fell asleep on the job and let the ghosts out. Now you've got to help them get all the ghosts back. Puzzle Mode is one of the places where you unlock new boards to play. Each level has 8 different puzzle challenges. You have to release all the ghosts with the limited number of blocks they give you. Basically, you're given exactly as many blocks and moves as you need. You have to pass the stages in order, but there is no time limit or retry limit. You're welcome to go replay any previous stage at any time. Personally, I found the fewer moves you are given, the easier it is to figure out what you need to do. When you've got several moves, there are so many more options that it is more difficult. You do not have to get rid of all the blocks at the top. You only have to clear out the non dark-grey bottom ones. Sometimes you'll find that there are extra blocks that you don't need at the top. New boards are also unlocked in Arcade Mode. For each level, you have to get a target score on an Endless Mode. In each level, that target gets higher and higher which means it's harder and harder to reach. Endless Mode is exactly as it sounds. You just keep playing until your blocks hit the top. They will be slowly rising up from the bottom and you're continually dropping them in from the top. The 2-player Party Modes are really quite robust in Ghost Mania. First, there's Battle Mode. After you choose your location, you will each have half of the board. You are playing in an Endless Mode but when you clear blocks, it'll dump some over to your opponent possibly making them die quicker. Whoever lasts the longest wins. Then there's Endure Mode where you just have to last longer than your opponent. It is basically the same thing as Battle except you aren't making their life more difficult when you release ghosts. Finally, there is Ghost Mode. Here you need to release all the ghosts before your opponent to win. To release all your ghosts, you have to clear your board entirely of blocks. That is actually a lot harder than it sounds since you're dropping the blocks two at a time and they're not necessarily going to be the same color.
Difficulty: I really love the fact that Ghost Mania works well for a player looking for any difficulty level. If you're not really in the mood for a brain challenge in deep thinking, but are more ready for quick thinking, then you choose to play Endless Mode. If you want to do a bit more brain work, then go for Arcade or Puzzle Mode. There's a mode for every mind set. Of course, you can always choose to go back and play the previous levels. The lower the level, the easier it is to accomplish. So if you're wanting something easier, go back and play the previous boards. Since you can choose to play Ghost Mania with another player in several different modes, there's something guaranteed to work for what you two might want to play. Playing with a friend can make the game much easier or harder depending on what friend you choose to play with. We found that everyone in the room wanted a try, so the Wii-motes got passed around a lot.
Game Mechanics: Ghost Mania is a very easy game to learn to play. You will need to hold the Wii-mote sideways. You will see two rows of blocks at the top of the screen and these are the blocks that you can control. The bottom of the screen has the blocks that you need to clear to release the ghosts. You have a bracket at the top that shows the two blocks you're about to drop. You can swap the order of these blocks with the (2) button. You move the bracket left and right with the D-pad. To drop the block, simply press the down arrow or hit the (1) button. You will need to note that not all colored blocks at the top will cause the bottom ones to clear. The colored blocks that are swirling like there's something inside are the only ones that will cause a clearing and they will only clear out blocks of their color that they land on. Simple, huh? Based on the different modes that you choose, you'll know what your specific goal is to accomplish. Ghost Mania is an addictive puzzle game that is suitable for all ages. If you're playing with a group of people around, I can assure you that they're going to want to try it out and will probably give you advice on what you should do with what blocks. Puzzle Mode can actually work as a good party game when you get a lot of people working on the harder ones. If you're into puzzles, you should definitely check out Ghost Mania today!
-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl
Related Links: Ghost Mania on Facebook.com Game Vortex's Review of Tetris Party
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