The first time you pass half a million points, it feels like breaking down a great barrier. Lightning mode (adapted from Bejeweled Blitz and therefore familiar to fans of the series), which sees you matching jewels at speed in a desperate attempt to amass enough time to continue on after the initial sixty seconds has elapsed, is a work of puzzle gaming art. The stylus control couldn’t be better not only hyper-responsive, but unerringly accurate given the large number of jewels that populate the touch screen in tight formation. It helps of course that it’s been given the perfect environment to flourish in, and given Tetris’s memorable Game Boy outing, it’s perhaps fitting that Bejeweled 3 is also at its best in portable form. Whereas Tetris tested organisation and spatial awareness, Bejeweled 3 is a test of instinct and reaction. And that’s part of the beauty of Bejeweled 3 it’s entirely compelling whether you’ve been playing video games for twenty years or twenty minutes, the fundamental appeal remains every bit as magnetic. The drive to improve, learn new tactics, sharpen your senses and reflexes – it goes way beyond anything any brain-training games have been able to muster, because such unbridled enjoyment and moreishness make it a necessity. …It’s like, how much more addictive could this be? And the answer is none. A game so good, it leaves the entirely respectable Bejeweled Twist (its DS predecessor) floundering ponderously in its wake, B3 is match-three puzzling made in gaming heaven. Griptonite Games back up their nifty portable spin-off Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery with a truly amazing DS outing that marks the best version of the best puzzler of the 21st Century. It’s compulsive, brain-ruiningly addictive, and these aren’t the fresh symptoms of finding a neat new game either it’s had me like this for months. I enjoyed a seemingly healthy, varied gaming diet. A million years ago, I used to play other games. You see, despite mercilessly kidnapping all my gaming time, it rests calmly in my DS, knowing I won’t be able to resist for long. I write this during a brief window between sessions where the most wise, wondrous and bountiful Bejeweled 3 has been kind enough to allow me a few minutes to myself.
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