"Prime example of a classic puzzle game."

Solomon’s Key is actually a game that takes a little bit of explaining to do. While it has all of the elements of an action game, the basis of the game itself is to make blocks in just the right places, blocking out your enemies and creating a way to get a key. The story behind it is something that I’ve forgotten, but you take control of a wizard, who must travel through several different stages with a magical wand to defeat an evil wizard at the end. Pretty much a cut and dry tale of get the bad guy before he gets you, Solomon’s Key is an interesting puzzle/action game that should be a part of any classic gamers resume!

The Game Play

Solomon’s Key is a puzzle game by trait, with just enough action to keep it from being a simple mind twister. The game starts out with you in one of several different stages in which you much create, destroy and place blocks at different locations in order to get a different effect. Where you would place one block, you may need to destroy it in order to proceed through the stage if you’re using it as a defense. The point of the game, is to reach a key in a different location through this block building and destroying while avoiding several different enemies.

Scoring isn’t an option here, with your time limit being the biggest thing against you. Most of the challenge not only comes from the simple, yet complex puzzles, but the control interface that you have to use. You have the joystick, which allows you to move your character around the stage, but then you have a create and a jump button which you’ll need to learn how to use in order to proceed. The learning curve here can be rather steep depending on the stage, but once you have the key element of block creating and usage, then the rest of the game is a cake walk!

The Visuals

Done is simple style, there really isn’t much to the detailing of the game aside from the different placement of the blocks and otherwise. Much like the NES counterpart, the visuals that you find here give you a small sense of theme to the game, but the extreme detail is left out in favor of the puzzles. Each stage has something of a life of its own and the enemies, while strange, have detail to them that make them unique all in their own right!

The Audio

The audio here is rather light, with the music that comes in having a Legend of Zelda feel to it that captures the dim mood of the game. Although there is nothing here that will be memorable, the music itself does a decent job in keeping you in the game and keeping you in the feel. The sound effects however are extremely limited to simple beeps and bloops that really have no bearing on the game after a few minutes and sound more like background noise than anything else!

Why you might not like this game:

Although it totes itself as being an action game, there really isn’t much here in terms of action until you get into the later stages of the game. The time limit will kill you if you don’t pay attention and it is easy to lose a life simply because you’ve stared at the puzzle for too long and took much longer to figure it out. Beginners need not apply here, even for a rather old game, and puzzle gamers will probably find the action that is here unnecessary.

The Verdict

Solomon’s Key is an old, unique game that challenges the mind rather than the reflexes. With the small amount of action that you’ll find in the game, there is little here that you’ll enjoy if you’re into run and gun gaming, and if you’re heavy into puzzles, what action you do find will probably be a little too much for your liking. Simple visuals and audio as well as simple control with the complex gaming make up for a combination that will spend your mind and your quarters all in one shot!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/02, Updated 05/26/02