Keeper

"A Great Puzzle Game Not To Be Missed"

The hardest part of creating a puzzle game is the concept. The best puzzle games are usually simplistic in their design yet provide new challenges for the player to overcome. Keeper sticks to this idea and executes it perfectly.

Graphics Puzzle games never been known for superior graphics. There's no polygons or FX chip found here, just good old fashioned pixels. Even so, Keeper is a very colorful game. The colors play a key part in the gameplay so this is important. The title screen features a cute animation Keeper sleeping with stars falling and then waking up when you press start. Nothing special overall but they suit the game well.

Audio Arggh! Make it stop! I there are only eight ''songs'' to be found in the whole game, and most only last a few seconds. While the title screen features a somewhat catchy song, during the gameplay there is only one song. It's repetitive so you might get lucky and just tune it out after a while, otherwise it will drive you nuts. The sound effects are limited and are usually just the character talking in Japanese when you do an action. Pretty bland overall.

Gameplay Yes! This is the part where I get to praise the game! The game starts on a 5 x 5 grid. In the grid will be different colored blocks that feature a symbol on them. The default symbols are sea related such as shells and fish, but can be switched to fruits or letters if you have something against sea creatures. In Tetris-style gameplay, the idea is to align blocks to remove them from the screen. In Keeper you'll have to put 3 or more blocks that are either the same color or symbol to get them to disappear. This is what makes the gameplay so great. Initially, players will find that using colors is easiest in sorting and eliminating blocks. But using combinations of both color and symbol is necessary for mastering the games difficult later levels.

The Controls? Let's see....D-Pad moves character...Jump is B and Pull is Y. Works perfect for moving the character.

The game features four main game modes and one hidden mode. The main modes are Single Game, Single Puzzle, 2 Player Game, 2 Player Versus. The Single and 2 Player Game features blocks spawning randomly on the grid and players try to eliminate them for high score. Fruit occasionally pops up from the sides of the screens and gives a score bonus when collected. There are also 2 special pieces that appear randomly. Time Stops blocks stop blocks from spawning for 10 seconds and Konomi(No not Konami) act as wild cards for any color or symbol. As the player(s) get higher scores they advance though levels. The highest level is 100 in this mode.

Puzzle Mode is my personal favorite mode. It features 60 pre-designed puzzles with no block spawning. The trick is that you only have a limited number of moves to remove all the blocks from the screen. This mode can become extremely challenging but that's what makes it so very, very fun! 2 Player versus is simply a battle to see who can eliminate a given number of stones, which can be set before the game begins. As if all those modes won't keep you entertained there are also options to keep the challenges coming. You can turn off Time Stop and Konomi blocks.

There are also three selectable characters. Keeper is the cute little bunny with a green vest on. Makendou looks like a little girl in an insect costume, maybe a butterfly(Does she have a mustache?). Then there's Mararin which is either a black sheep or a cauldron and has a Pentagram(!?) on his/her chest. Choosing different charcters has no effect on how the game plays.

Replay Lots and lots of replay! There is over 100 Game Mode levels, 60 Puzzles and the 2 Player modes are a blast! The hidden game mode also adds a whole new twist to the game and should be very challenging for those who mastered the rest of the game. Chances are you'll get bored of the overall gameplay before you run out of things to do in this game.

Summary What Keeper lakes in graphics and audio flare, it more than makes up for in gameplay. The gameplay design is both familiar and a refreshing change from standard puzzlers. Hardcore puzzlers and first timers can both find something to enjoy in this game. So what are you waiting for! Go get this game now!

Graphics--6/10
Audio--4/10
Gameplay--9/10
Replay--10/10

Overall Score--9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/10/02, Updated 07/10/02