Super Collapse! 3 Review

Super Collapse is a puzzle game, block-based but not like Tetris. Blocks do not fall from the sky. They rise from the ground one row at a time. To eliminate them, you have to tap on groups of three or more like colors. Simple, right? Yep. That’s all you need to know. Start playing.

Of course, if that were really how it went, this wouldn’t be such a popular franchise and wouldn’t be on a number three. While you can certainly tap willy-nilly and still get results, high scores and some later levels are only doable by being a bit more crafty. The order you tap the groups in may close off or open up other groups. For instance, if you tap (and destroy) a group of yellow blocks on the bottom of the stack, the blocks above will shift and possibly screw up a perfectly good set of blue. There are also power-ups to take into consideration, blocks that will wipe out entire rows or columns and bombs that will blow up large chunks of the stack. The goal, then, is to keep the stack from reaching the top until the level runs out of rows to push up from the bottom (a number the top screen keeps track of for you).

This classic mode is actually my least favorite mode in Super Collapse. Finding matches of three just doesn’t have the same challenge or reward to it that games like Bust-a-Move or Puzzle League do. But the developers thought of ways to alter the original design in entertaining ways. Relapse, for instance, stacks new rows on the bottom and top of the screen, putting you in the hectic position of managing two different stacks that are on the verge of colliding. Slider mode harkens to Classic, but the rows slide back and forth, constantly changing the possible combinations. My favorite modes, though, are Strategy and Puzzle. These are the modes where random stylus tapping won’t help at all. In Strategy, every tap forces a new line of blocks to appear, so you really have to be careful and consider what you’re doing. Puzzle is even more precise, because you have to clear the screen in a particular, not always foreseeable order.

You can play these modes anytime you want in Quick Play, but the real meat of the game is the Quest (or Quest! as it is written, because exclamation marks are very in). Quest contains a map full of different areas, and every area has a set of puzzles that need to be conquered. Luckily, it’s not always Classic mode. Each variation manifests itself multiple times to help keep the game from getting stale. Another addition that adds some variety is the inclusion of coins awarded after beating a level. In turn, these coins can be used to buy power-ups and hints, opt-out of a puzzle, or gamble for more coins. The gambling portion in particular is nice, because it’d be tiring otherwise to replay old levels when you needed more money. These gambling mini-games range from a slot machine to a game of memory. They’re nothing new, but you’ll appreciate them being there when you need 100 coins to skip a rather tricky Puzzle level.

Despite that later levels get very fast and difficult, it’ll only take about 5-6 hours to finish Quest. But this being a puzzle game, it’s more important that Super Collapse is pick-up-and-play friendly. There is a Continuous mode unique to Quick Play that is a never-ending version of Classic sure to be a hotspot for high score attempts. However, the two modes I like most–Strategy and Puzzle–don’t work as well as standalone features. They complement Quest nicely but fail to deliver hours of excitement on their own, because they have a finite end. So even though there are quite a few levels in Puzzle, once you’ve beaten them, there’s no need to solve them again. This is where a level editor would have made a lot of sense.

This far into the DS’s life, I also expect puzzle games to support a single-card download option. Super Collapse features co-op and versus multiplayer modes, but all four players have to have their own copy. How ridiculous! If Metroid Prime Hunters can pull off download play, a two-dimensional puzzle game should have no problem whatsoever.

Granted, this DS game is derived from the PC counterpart that didn’t feature a multiplayer mode at all. The transition from PC to DS feels like a natural fit, though. The stylus acts just as well as a mouse. But since the blocks are so small, it can be difficult to hit the right one on your first try. This only really becomes a problem in Slider mode, where a missed tap may mean you have to wait for the rows to line up again. It could also affect some of the trophies you can win, one of which is an “every tap counted” trophy. I sense this is to reward people for not going tap-crazy, but it’s pretty easy to get regardless. Other trophies include clearing a certain amount of blocks with one tap and emptying the screen completely before the next row appears. The trophy selection is small, but it’s always fun to have something extra on the side to work towards.

Final Comments

Super Collapse is ideally a casual gamer’s game. It is meant to be simple and easy to get into. Well, most puzzlers are designed that way, aren’t they? But games like Tetris, Puyo Pop, and Puzzle League have hidden methods of mastery to them, ways to get ungodly combos or to save your skin in the nick of time. Super Collapse has some of that, too, but it doesn’t feel as grand or as satisfying. Still, this game packs quite a bit of content, and the diverse and well-developed Quest mode definitely gets my approval. Fans of the Collapse series who want to take their addiction on the road should get a lot of mileage out of Super Collapse 3.