Pipemania (DS)

Oct 6 2008 by Ross Hawkes, Sunday Mercury

Pipemania

(DS), Empire Interactive

UNLIKE movies, remakes of games – especially decent ones – tend to be a good thing. And that’s exactly the case with Pipemania.

First released way back in 1989, Pipemania is proof if ever it were needed that great gameplay is all you really need for a top notch computer game.

Just as with its predecessors, there’s no snazzy, earth-shattering graphics to be found, but you don’t need it, because the basis of the game is so strong. It’s a puzzler from the old-school stable of Tetris & Co.

Despite an awful tacked-on storyline, the premise is simple, use a random selection of pipes to get from point A to point B.

There’s a couple of variations on the theme in this version, but the gameplay is the same all the way through, balancing the desire to complete the level by using all the pieces with the need to complete the level in time.

The real joy of Pipemania is that it will attract the retro gamers who spent far too many hours playing past versions, while it might also convert a few new-age gamers who think that a title isn’t worth playing if it isn’t oozing with slick 3D graphics – a theory this DS version dispels immediately.

Long live the traditional puzzler!

HHHH