[i]Chime Sharp[/i] is an interesting improvement of [url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris]Tetris[/url]: instead of the simple block-dropping formula, we have to place randomly coming different shaped rotatable blocks on a board, but instead of completing just simple lines, we must form at least 3x3 blocks to make the formations disappear. While it advertises itself as a "music puzzle game", the role of music is an overexaggeration, all it does that it speeds up slightly when we are about to fail...
The main problem with the game is its heavy reliance on luck: the shape of the next block that comes determines our outcome completely. No matter how quickly we can make decisions or how fast our fingers are - with 5-6 T-shapes in a row, there'll always be fragments left, no matter what, ruining our chances as time runs out.
I even tried to forget about the bad experience I had with another [url=steamcommunity.com/id/atisz2/recommended/326670/]game[/url] of this developer, but the same dependence on luck and the simplified, unpolished gameplay just all came back to me.
Another (although minor) problematic thing is the lack of information. I usually don't consider this a shortcoming, I believe trial & error prevails - unless of course there are complex rules involved (like AD&D), but still, some basic instructions should always be attached, instead of just saying "it's the good old Chime, that everyone knows"... While it has received updates over the years and descriptions to the various game modes had been added, the core mechanics are still unexplained to those who did not play the - according to the developer - "much-loved" prequel.
So, there are various shaped blocks, just like in tetris - made of different number of cubes, depending on the level. These formations only disappear after a vertical sweeping line coming from the left of the screen passes them, 'activating' the correctly placed (at least a 3x3 square) shapes, while leaving the fragments that 'stick out'. The activated tiles - which the game calls 'coverage' - must reach at least 60% of the entire board to unlock new levels and modes, while 90% is required for successful completion, within the time limit.
The left out fragments however - after the line passes over them several times - will eventually disappear without progress/coverage AND making us lose time. Therefore we must try and shape rectangles (so we won't leave fragments behind) and - even better - squares, since these perfect 3x3, 4x4 formations provide us bonus time.
These apply to the normal/standard mode, but these core rules are present in all the other ones.
Practice mode does what it says: it's standard mode with a very generous time limit, but unfortunately it really is just for practice, only the "create" type of achievements can be unlocked here + we don't lose time if we leave fragments.
The titular 'Sharp mode' is actually something I personally found easier than standard mode: there's no time limit, instead we have 10 lives - from which we lose 1 for every left fragments and for perfect quads we receive lives (instead of extra time).
Strike mode is a strange (/pointless) one, since it's impossible to complete: we have 90 seconds to cover as much of the board as we can, BUT remaining fragments can destroy (!) adjacent (and some random) coverage with the line moving much faster than in the other modes and fragments disappear faster too.
The final mode is called 'Challenge' and surprisingly it isn't hard at all: all there is to it is the mazelike board, so we have to take extra care when placing pieces, but otherwise feels and plays just like standard mode.
The first thing we should do is switching to simple view in the options menu, because the '3D' just presents the table in a distorted manner, adding some unnecessary difficulty... unfortunately the crazy colour palette (bright orange + bright blue + white combinations) can't be changed, so good luck with that.
A stage/level counts as completed whenever we reach 90% coverage, but it keeps on going for 2 more loops (the line passes the screen 2 more times). The line itself is the source of several bugs on standard mode (maybe that's why standard is the hardest): 1 affects success, so it's quite serious - sometimes it fails to register the progress we made and we're not given the bonus time necessary for continuing (even though we managed to cover some new areas of the board). The other is related to an achievement: I reached 100% coverage several times, yet it failed to register since the game counted the level as completed, before the line reached the right edge of the screen.
The luck related issue, the 'T-shape anomaly' could have been prevented by slightly restricting these abnormal randomizations by default.
While the game apparently aims to be casual and chill, the tight time limit (of the standard mode) makes it a hectic race against time, preventing the player from thinking and planning which should have been the goal, I think.
But that's not all: sadly this is one of those games, where once we've played one level, we’ve pretty much played them all - and this is a pretty serious issue, one of the biggest one a game with multiple levels can have. The overemphasized role of the 'dynamic soundtrack' is nonsense: as mentioned before, its speed just increases slightly as we are about to run out of time/lives. That's it.
And about the soundtrack itself? After unlocking them all (37 hours) I can say I've heard better, far better and can find more likeable in about 5 seconds with similar style.
Initially a modest casual game, but after actually completing (90+%) a level, its shortcomings quickly show and turn it into a hectic, buggy and boring rush, which requires more luck than thinking and/or speed.
PROS
+ interesting concept for a tetris clone
+ some annoying things can be changed in the options...
CONS
- ...and some can't be
- very much luck dependent
- becomes boring fast despite the 4 game modes
- standard mode seems to have bugs
- terrible colour combinations
- music plays next to 0 role contrary to what the game claims
RATING
2/10
