Review
Actionloop Review (DS)
Balls are great fun! No matter what game we come across, balls are a great part of the challenge; they can bounce randomly yet they’re totally down to your control. Or are they? In Actionloop, the balls are both your enemy and your friend; as the spiral game play arena fills with coloured marbles, you must take them out by making groups of three or more sharing the same colour, which you do by firing your own balls into the fray from the middle. Sound simple? There’s also a reactor near the centre of the spiral where your launch cannon is stationed – if a ball reaches the reactor, you lose.
First of all, I think it deserves to be said that Actionloop isn’t trying to be graphically amazing or complex like an RPG. It’s trying to be a fun puzzler. Actionloop is on the DS which should automatically tell you something about the sort of gaming experience you can expect; with Nintendo’s addiction to puzzlers and brain teaser titles especially. If you’re an American gamer, this game has been dubbed Magnetica in your territory but is no different to play.
Interestingly, there’s a free rumble pack inside the DS case when you open it. The black unit slots neatly into the GBA cartridge slot on your DS and will rumble gently during your game play. This has the surprising effect of feeling very much like hard, rubber balls bouncing around and in our opinion makes the game feel different and more alive than some other puzzlers on the DS. When you lose a game for example, you are rewarded with a long rumble as all the balls explode with the reactor.
Actionloop is controlled accurately and intuitively by the stylus being used to flick the balls in your own possession from the centre of the spiral outward. The aim here is to strike balls of the same colour causing them to explode, or to mix coloured balls up to try to cause combination attacks later. It’s a simple concept that’s easy to do in the first few flicks, but very tricky to do well.
Modes are offered up to keep your interest depending on your mood. For the traditional, old skool gamer, there’s the ‘play till you drop’ (or at least reach level 99!) mode where you have to prevent any balls reaching the reactor close to the centre of the spiral. The balls are fed in and every ten levels, a rocket ship will arrive to shove the balls along even faster than usual. You have to strike the ship with a ball to kill it, or eliminate every ball ahead of him. The former is far easier however, in everything bar the much later levels.
There are also special attack items in the Quest mode, and multicoloured balls that you gain by performing lots of destruction. These destroy every ball on screen that is the same colour as the one it hits, which can get you out of a sticky spot when things are looking desperate. Checkmate (called Puzzle in the US version) mode provides a truly cerebral challenge where you must clear every ball from the spiral using only a limited set of balls in your cannon – and like every good strategy puzzler, there’s only one right way to get it done. These are great to play when you’re on the go and want a short length of a challenge that is difficult none the less.
Carrying the same addictive qualities that other colourful puzzle games have had, Actionloop throws a cerebral curveball into the fray, presented in a non patronizing and simple interface with an accurate and swift stylus aiming system. This is a game for the people who grew up with Tetris, or lovers of Zuma. Easy it ain’t; frustrating it can be, but above all it’s rewarding.
Looking sharp, rumbling like a paintball container as well as a control system which actually does what you expect of it almost every time; Actionloop hits all the major targets for a puzzler. Put down Tetris and Lumines, spirals are the dish of the day! You won’t regret if your lifestyle suits pick-up-and-play-me titles. A real, classy gem of a game.
Top Game Moment: Achieving a gigantic combo and feeling the lovely vibrations from the DS rumble pack!
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| Neat, tidy and playful! | Balls explode when flicked into ones of the same colour |
First of all, I think it deserves to be said that Actionloop isn’t trying to be graphically amazing or complex like an RPG. It’s trying to be a fun puzzler. Actionloop is on the DS which should automatically tell you something about the sort of gaming experience you can expect; with Nintendo’s addiction to puzzlers and brain teaser titles especially. If you’re an American gamer, this game has been dubbed Magnetica in your territory but is no different to play.
Interestingly, there’s a free rumble pack inside the DS case when you open it. The black unit slots neatly into the GBA cartridge slot on your DS and will rumble gently during your game play. This has the surprising effect of feeling very much like hard, rubber balls bouncing around and in our opinion makes the game feel different and more alive than some other puzzlers on the DS. When you lose a game for example, you are rewarded with a long rumble as all the balls explode with the reactor.
Actionloop is controlled accurately and intuitively by the stylus being used to flick the balls in your own possession from the centre of the spiral outward. The aim here is to strike balls of the same colour causing them to explode, or to mix coloured balls up to try to cause combination attacks later. It’s a simple concept that’s easy to do in the first few flicks, but very tricky to do well.
 |
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| The magnetic force pulls balls of the same colour towards each other | Advanced quest levels challenge even the hardcore! |
Modes are offered up to keep your interest depending on your mood. For the traditional, old skool gamer, there’s the ‘play till you drop’ (or at least reach level 99!) mode where you have to prevent any balls reaching the reactor close to the centre of the spiral. The balls are fed in and every ten levels, a rocket ship will arrive to shove the balls along even faster than usual. You have to strike the ship with a ball to kill it, or eliminate every ball ahead of him. The former is far easier however, in everything bar the much later levels.
There are also special attack items in the Quest mode, and multicoloured balls that you gain by performing lots of destruction. These destroy every ball on screen that is the same colour as the one it hits, which can get you out of a sticky spot when things are looking desperate. Checkmate (called Puzzle in the US version) mode provides a truly cerebral challenge where you must clear every ball from the spiral using only a limited set of balls in your cannon – and like every good strategy puzzler, there’s only one right way to get it done. These are great to play when you’re on the go and want a short length of a challenge that is difficult none the less.
Carrying the same addictive qualities that other colourful puzzle games have had, Actionloop throws a cerebral curveball into the fray, presented in a non patronizing and simple interface with an accurate and swift stylus aiming system. This is a game for the people who grew up with Tetris, or lovers of Zuma. Easy it ain’t; frustrating it can be, but above all it’s rewarding.
 |
 |
|
| Destroy balls higher up in the line to start combination attacks! | Levels come in more than one shape! |
Looking sharp, rumbling like a paintball container as well as a control system which actually does what you expect of it almost every time; Actionloop hits all the major targets for a puzzler. Put down Tetris and Lumines, spirals are the dish of the day! You won’t regret if your lifestyle suits pick-up-and-play-me titles. A real, classy gem of a game.
Top Game Moment: Achieving a gigantic combo and feeling the lovely vibrations from the DS rumble pack!
