Appletell reviews Tidalis for Mac OS X

Genre: Puzzle
Format: Download
Developer: Arcen Games
Mac Publisher: Arcen Games
System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later, 1.4GHz Intel or PowerPC processor (1.8 Ghz recommended for background animation or multiplayer), 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended), 600MB Hard Disk space, 800×600 or greater screen resolution (32 bit color, 1280×720 recommended), Internet Connection or LAN required for networked multiplayer
Review Computer: Dual 533MHz PowerPC G4, Mac OS X v10.5.1, 1.5 GB RAM, ATI Radeon 128 MB video card
Network Feature: Internet or LAN
Processor Compatibility: Intel or PowerPC
Price: $9.99
Availability: Out Now
Demo: Multiple Mirrors

The infamous colored block. How many puzzle games have been designed around this everyday shape? Has Arcen Games made another tired clone of Tetris? I can’t answer the first question, but as to the second, I can say without a doubt that Tidalis will make you look at cubes in a whole new light.

The basic premise of Tidalis is simple. Each colored block has an arrow you click on to send a beam of light up to 3 blocks away. It will repeat this process if the stream touches another block of the same color or shape as the first block. You control where the stream travels by changing the direction of the arrow on the blocks. If three or more blocks are touched by the same stream, they will disappear and the blocks above will fall down. Each block at the bottom will send out a stream of its own when they land, thus enabling you to have a chain reaction of more and more streams, each affecting a different color.

There are special blocks that change how the streams work. For example, the tinder block stops streams and is only removed by clearing red blocks next to it, and the glass block is removed by clearing the blocks beneath it so it falls to the ground and shatters. There are many different ways of playing, from following an adventure with 114 levels to quick play which lets you pick a style and play one board at a time. You can have blocks fall from the top if you want an action game, or you can play in zen mode and have all the time you want to clear the board. You can also combine special blocks and styles to make your own gameplay, as well as use the editor to make and share levels you design. If this isn’t enough, you can play with other people competitively or cooperatively over the Internet or on the same computer

If all of this seems overwhelming, Tidalis has an extensive tutorial that gradually introduces you to the many ways of playing. While the tutorials do a good job at teaching you how to play, I would have liked to see solutions if you truly become stuck. Even though you can skip the levels you can’t solve, there are still a few I haven’t been able to figure out. If the solution was given in the game that would have given me a better idea of how to play. This quibble aside, the tutorials are great at teaching you what you need to know.

There are many different background themes (marsh, forest, volcano, etc.) with animations that are pretty, but aren’t distracting. The streams are sparkly and the blocks disappear with a flourish. Fortunately, you can reduce the graphic quality if your computer is old or if all of the movement gives you a headache, as it did me. There are a few looping soundtracks that got repetitive very quickly, but a quick mute solved that problem.

I have only scratched the surface of all of the features packed into Tidalis, so I reccomend going to the features page to look at the trailers. All of these options are what makes Tidalis unique amongst the puzzle games I’ve ever played. Tidalis can be played simply with no special blocks or rules or with a bunch of them combined that require you to use every trick to win. You can be limited by how many moves you can make or how long you can take before time runs out. There’s practically no limit to the variations each level can have.

Usually, puzzle games have such a simple concept that they quickly become boring or they require you to have lightning reflexes just to keep up. It’s because of this that I usually avoid puzzle games entirely. Yet Tidalis is the first one I’ve played that I can recommend to everyone without reservation. Whether you match three colors in your sleep or avoid puzzles like a plague, Tidalis is a really fun game that will keep you entertained and strategizing for hours on end.

Appletell Rating:

Buy Tidalis