Q*bert 3

"Have you ever noticed that they good puzzle series have many games?"

OPENING STATEMENT
Q*Bert 3 is yet another puzzle game on the Super Nintendo. It is a bit better than many of the other puzzle games. But what really sets Q*Bert 3 apart from the competition? What really makes Q*Bert 3 tick? Well, the answers to all of these forbidden secrets will be revealed in this very review.

GAMEPLAY--7
Q*Bert 3 has an odd objective. Your goal is to change the color of all of the blocks, or tiles, on the screen. This is done by simply moving your character in the direction of the block. I have named this character Bert, so from now on whenever you see the name Bert, know that I am referring to the main character. So, anyway, you just need to move Bert from block to block, tile to tile, until all of the blocks change to the designated color.

But you knew it was not going to be quite that easy, did you not? You have to do with enemies that will bounce around the boards, which are not all that big, and chase you around. And all you get is a measly two hundred and fifty bonus for each of those goons that is on the screen at the end of the level. It is not hardly worth if for all of that trouble.

GRAPHICS--8
Q*Bert 3 actually has very impressive graphics, even today. These graphics are even more remarkable when you think about the fact that Q*Bert 3 is a puzzle game, and puzzle games are hardly known for their graphical prowess. Q*Bert 3 is actually one of the only three-dimensional games on the Super Nintendo console.

The biggest problem with the graphics, is a problem that I should not be so hard on, as the developers tried to make Q*Bert 3 one of the first three-dimensional games around. But, they are so simplistic it is unforgivable. Well, maybe not unforgivable, but you understand what I am getting at. I am talking about the backgrounds. Not only are the blocks all simplistic, the screens behind the blocks are all one solid color, or else a very simplistic pattern. But, I suppose on a completely unrelated note, the start-up screen looks excellent, but it takes so long to load, I wish there was some possible way to skip it.

MUSIC--7
SOUND--5
The music was happy and bouncy, a perfect fit for Q*Bert 3. Many of the songs, though, felt a bit too childish, even if the game’s theme is hardly nudity and gore. I felt that the childishness of the music could, even though it was well done, hurt Q*Bert 3 more than help it, as the music alone would keep some shallow people from buying the title. Not because the music is bad, which it certainly is not, but because it is childish.

The sound effects are nowhere as good as the music, and the music is far from perfect. First of all, the sound effect that is heard every time that Bert moves is way too over-the-top for my selective tastes. Plus, you will hear that sound effect so many times you are bound to go clinically insane. The sound effect that is heard whenever Bert says something to the effect of “#&%*!” is hilarious and it nearly makes up for the walking noises. Just for the record, Q*Bert 3 does not actually say the profane words, it actually says “#&%*!” So, hopefully that point will appease all of the over-protective parents out there, and make sure that they do not write off a wholesome game such as Q*Bert 3 for their children.

CONTROL--7
I thought about giving Q*Bert 3 a rating of not/applicable in the control section, as it makes no use whatsoever of ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘X,’’Y,’ ‘R,’ ‘L,’ or ‘Select.’ Instead, Q*Bert 3 only uses the Control Pad for movement, and the ‘Start’ button to pause the game. Q*Bert 3’s control scheme is so endearingly simple that it needs to use no more buttons than that to make Q*Bert 3 fun. Although I wish all of those buttons had some function, whatever it may have been, I suppose I can understand why the developers left those buttons out. They would just be dead weight.

FUN--6
At times I found the relentless pursuit of Bert by my opponents frustrating enough to make Q*Bert 3 absolutely no fun for myself. Plus, too many times I found myself victim of cheap deaths, as the board is slanted at such an angle that occasionally you can easily press the wrong direction on the Control Pad while jumping.

There are multiplayer capabilities in Q*Bert 3, but they seem to be thrown in at the last second, almost like my sixth grade science project was a few years ago. There is no Head to Head mode or anything as fun as that in Q*Bert 3. Instead there is only a Super Mario Brothers 3 style alternating Multiplayer Mode. While in most games I have absolutely no problem with that multiplayer format, in a game such as Q*Bert 3 it just does not work. I imagine neither Bert wants to leave the board like that after a cheap death anyway.

CHALLENGE--HIGH
Well, not only is Q*Bert 3 nowhere near as fun as some puzzle games, such as Mario and Wario, or Tetris Deluxe, it is also many, many more times challenging. The enemies cheap ‘stealth’ shadowing tactics will make you feel very sorry for poor Bert. You will die cheaply so many times you should save some money. After the third level, it is nearly impossible to advance to the next one, because in the third level you are introduced to a new, even cheaper, ghost-like enemy type.

REPLAY VALUE--LOW TO MEDIUM
There are three main factors that contributed to Q*Bert 3 receiving such a low rating in the replay value category. The first is that the multiplayer capabilities are utterly useless, and there is no head to head mode. The second is that the cheap deaths will frustrate you so much that you may want to never play it again. The third is that you will not, probably, at least most of you, be able to get past the fourth level, so you will never want to play it again.

PROS
*Three-dimensional graphics on the Super Nintendo.
*An innovative objective in each level.
*Hilarious sound effects for Bert’s profane outbreaks.

CONS
*Too childish, even for someone who does not have a grudge against childish games.
*Too many ways to die cheaply.
*A game with an asterisk in it is too difficult to type.

CLOSING STATEMENT
Although Q*Bert 3 could easily be the centerpiece of a Fox television special, The World’s Cheapest Video Game Deaths, it still has more than enough merits to give it a look. Chances are there is no other puzzle game like it that you have played, or that you will play, unless it is another game in the Q*Bert series.

OVERALL--6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/13/00, Updated 07/18/01