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Klustar
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Graphics & Sound:
The graphics in Klustar are very reminiscent of Tetris, but the gameplay is different. You have the same different colored pieces made of four squares, but this time you can select a game with five or six square pieces as well.
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Gameplay:
Remember Tetris? Great. Remember how it worked? Little shapes made of four squares fall down from the top, and you have to form horizontal lines, right? Well... imagine instead of the pieces falling downwards, they go from one side of the screen to the other... top to bottom, bottom to top, left to right, and right to left. You don't build on the bottom, but in the middle of the screen. You attempt to arrange the pieces such that they complete squares, not lines. If you mess up, either the pieces leave gaps and make your working piece bigger and harder to deal with, or they get past you, and stick to the opposite wall, forming a build up which impedes your movement. The hardest thing is trying to get used to the fact that the action is all in the middle. If you've played Tetris before, you'll keep wanting to turn the pieces around. That's the twist - you have to use the pieces as they are oriented when they go across the screen. The only orientation you can change is that of the glob of pieces you control in the center of the screen.
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Difficulty:
There are several different settings you can change in Klustar. From the direction(s) the pieces come in, to the size of those pieces, to different types of games. For those fond of Tetris, play on the easier settings first, to get used to the differences between Klustar and Tetris. Then try the more difficult settings. Due to the fact that you cannot rotate the pieces that are coming in, it is sometimes tricky to find a good placement for a piece. One part that does make it more approachable, however, is that when one square disappears, the pieces around it are reorganized and often this will cause another square to be completed. This usually happens after the glob of pieces in the center has grown to a large, difficult-to-work-with size. I often found myself praying that another square would be completed just by chance.
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Game Mechanics:
Klustar offers a unique twist on the Tetris-type genre of puzzle games. Since Klustar removes the ability to control the incoming pieces at all, it changes the dynamics of the game, and creates a surprisingly challenging variation on the theme. If you love Tetris, you might like Klustar - if you are willing to develop a new set of strategies.
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-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins |
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