Fire 'N Ice

"An entertaining and well-made puzzle game, and much better than the first!"

The famous (and slightly overrated) puzzle game Solomon's Key is a well-established game in the NES retro field and is known by most gamers of that console era. What is not so known is that this game actually has a sequel. Titled "Fire 'N' Ice" in America and most other countries, the true name is really Solomon's Key 2. In the parts of Europe where I live, the game had its original Solomon's Key title and the "Fire 'N' Ice" tagline was nowhere to be seen. Thus, I was very surprised when I didn't find Solomon's Key 2 on big gaming sites, but as soon as I saw the title Fire 'N' Ice, the confusion in my mind was cleared up.

This time, our quest takes us to Coolmint Island, an island in the far far northern sea with ice and snow. The people don't mind living in the cold landscapes though, and they have a good life among the glaciers. However, one day, an evil wizard king attacks the land and creates tons of flames everywhere on the island. Slowly, the island begins to melt down, and all people will be doomed to extinction. The wizards council chooses one man that will save their island - Dana the wizard. They give him the magical powers of ice and wish him good luck on his quest.

This game differs a whole lot from the original. The genre is still the same, but the methods of the concept have changed. In the original, Dana could create blocks of stone, and his main task on each level was to find the exit. This time, Dana can create blocks of ice, and his objective on each stage is to put out the evil flames by dropping or pushing ice blocks onto them. When all flames on a level are gone, the level is completed. Dana can only create ice blocks one square below him to the right and below him to the left, so he needs to be tactical to get the blocks to the right place on the level. On the stages, various obstacles come in his path, such as pipes, flaming jars, stones and enemies. The game consists of ten worlds, each with nine normal stages and one boss challenge in it.

Where the original game was very action based, this game focuses more on slow planning and tactics, which means less stress and more mind-boggling events. There is no time limit either, so you can take all the time you want to think and plan your move (except for in some of the boss levels). You need a sharp eye to see how the ice blocks are connected, and what will happen when you remove a certain block. The first levels are very simple, and all you need to do is to push a few blocks to succeed. The further you progress, the more difficult the game turns. On the higher levels, you will need to keep multiple sequences of the level in your mind and see all the connections. Dana can die or get stuck on a level, but then you can just retry as many times as you wish. Solomon's Key 2 is very keen with second chances, and a password feature allows you to go on where you stopped last time.

All in all, Fire 'N' Ice is a very amusing puzzle game which works well and keeps you hooked to the console for a long time. The mechanisms are easy to understand, and you will soon be able to roam around freely on the levels and try different solutions. The game has a great length for an early game. There are 10 worlds with 10 levels in each, plus 50 hidden levels when you have completed the first 100. 150 levels in total. The challenge is well-balanced, and while the first levels are cake walks, the final levels require a whole lot of creativity and planning to get solved.

Puzzle games never require any cool graphics and fabulous music to prevail. If the basic concept is fantastic, then you have a winner. But of course, good aesthetics can be a nice addition to a good game. Solomon's Key 2 is in fact blessed with some good looking art. The graphics are cute, and there are small details that make you smile while playing, such as the way Dana has to crouch down in a narrow passage, the face expressions of the flames, and how the main screen is made up of two children hearing a nice story from their grandma, who goes on with it if you decide to play the next stage, or puts the children to sleep if you decide to quit. There are some nice tunes in the game, and you even get a flashy level editor where you can make your own levels! While the controls are good, they can be a bit slippery at times (pun not intended), and sometimes you can do a fatal move just by mistake. But thanks to the endless trials you have on each level, this won't be too painful.

Still, while almost all parts are well done, Fire 'N' Ice lacks a little bit of that extra touch a puzzle game needs. While almost all levels are well-made, most of them are quite similar, and you will probably blaze through a few of them every day not remembering any of them again. We could use some more tools and ideas on the levels. With such a solid ground for a puzzle game, we need more things to play around with. The greatest puzzle games are the ones that hold such variation and amazing design that make you remember all the levels, that give all the levels an unique face. Tell me the name of any level in Chip's Challenge, and I can tell you my own experiences of that level. Tell me a random level number in Fire 'N' Ice and I won't remember anything. Few levels are memorable, and the impression doesn't last long after you have turned off the game. While you get your nice brain massage, you would also want it to be a good everlasting memory. Top score for the level editor and some of the boss levels though. They are some leading aspects of this game that were very interesting and nicely done.

Solomon's Key 2: Fire 'N' Ice is by all means a good puzzle game that is highly recommended to all fans of the puzzle genre. It is well-done in most parts and will entertain you for quite a while, but it lacks a little bit of power to become an eternal classic. Some people might disagree with this opinion, and they are very allowed to do so since Fire 'N' Ice is a very solid and entertaining piece of work. No matter what the scores are, Solomon's Key 2 is a good puzzle game that shouldn't be missed by any puzzle fanatic out there.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/06