Mini-review

[DOAsaturn]

I've played Q*bert: Rebooted for about 2-3 hours now, about half of it trying to 3-star some of the earlier levels, so I'm actually on level 14. 

 

Each level has three parts, each a bit more difficult than the previous (usually in the form of an extra enemy or two). Each level also needs to be replayed a couple more times to 3-star it. To 1-star a level, you just have to beat all three parts (you get six lives to do this). To 2-star a level you have to go for speed, and beat the level in a certain given time. To 3-star a level, you have to go for a high score, this often means not dying, while also defeating any enemies (like luring "coily" snakes to their death) on the board for added points. I'm not sure yet if one has to 3-star every level to complete the game (you DO have to do more than just 1-star every level)... but it doesn't appear so from looking at the world map. 

 

I like this spin on the Q*bert style gameplay, but I'm not thrilled with the controls. Analog control is the natural method here, but on the Vita's nub, it's a bit tricky and you'll often be inadvertently jumping to your death when you thought you were pressing left, but the game registered left + down. On trickier maps, I sacrificed speed + vision and used the touchscreen controls so I wouldn't die needlessly.This is one game where a clicky joystick of the old school arcade days is probably the only way to go. 

 

As for the small trophy list, none of the trophies are attainable within the first few minutes of gameplay, but if you invest some time in the game, you can easily get 6 of the 9 regardless of your overall skill level - whether you grind them out or just get them while playing through. I'm at 1,300 gems right now and will just save up to 5,000 before I spend them towards the Q*Bert-o-rama trophy. No idea how difficult the main game gets yet, but the classic Q*bert is much harder and controls a bit differently. I can see those two trophies being the most difficult to achieve in this game. 

[NightmareJames]

_{I'm debating holding off writing my reviw until I hit Stage 40-3, but right now I'm on 29-2.  I think the synopsis is right-on and the controllers on the PS3 and PSVita are too small to control the game accurately, but I don't have the money to spend on the game (if I did I'd be using my fighting game stick if I owned one).  It has good design, but I just don't know if I can say the controls work on Q-Bert on any console since the NES.  I just don't think modern controllers are prepared to handle such a specialized game.}

 

_{I still think having stages of single block turns without going back in Stage 29 is kinda stupid (especially put next to the classic), but I'm not the game developer.  It's still WAY harder than most games today though, especially the perfection-demanding third star challenges.}

 

_-James