Bejeweled was a huge hit with casuals. Many game companies are aware of this and have come out with clones of their own. Cradle of Rome, though on the outside it looks to be a copy with a different facade, it adds a few elements that push it beyond.
To begin, player will make a profile in one of four slots provided. Then you’ll be presented with five bubble icons that represent the era. Each era will display what has been built on the top screen along with what will need to be built and the resources required on the bottom. This is mostly the extent of the storyline, except when completing tasks, which then you are presented with a congratulatory screen with a bit of text. Although there isn’t much story, the gameplay makes up for this.
When finally arriving at the game board to play there are many different icons on the board. The goal is to remove all blue squares underneath any icon you see by matching three or more on top of them. Time is of the essence due to a water hourglass that slowly dwindles down and spells doom if you do not complete the level before it runs out.
At first power-ups do not exist and you’ll rely on your own cunning to solve the puzzles. Slowly you’re introduced to your first item which is the hammer. In order to use the hammer you must keep matching three or more hammer icons on the screen. This is the same for all powers in the game. To use it when it’s ready, one simply taps on it and taps on a block they wish to remove. Other powers in the game are similar to this usage, but with more potency such as removing icons in a wide area.
Not every power up is useful though, the hourglass for instance doesn’t seem to add time to the overall time to play when used. This becomes increasingly annoying in levels where time is critical and victory could be had with a useful item at your disposal.
When you’re finished with the game and have completed all 100 levels in the story mode, they’re available to play for relaxation. This mode takes the levels and allows you to see them individually anytime you wish. Unfortunately there was nothing added to this mode such as score, so there’s not much in playing it over the story mode unless one level caught your eye.
Visuals and audio in this game seem to be lackluster, but appropriate for the price point. Nothing stands out, but then again nothing is stabbing your ears to the point of wanting to throw the DS across the room. There’s not even any video before the game begins, during, or after, so it’s a bare bones experience when it comes to appearance.
Cradle of Rome although has flaws that won’t go unnoticed by many, I found to be a great experience for what it is. The addictive nature of wanting to build your city, no matter how shallow it is, feels fulfilling. This is a good title for those Bejeweled fans looking for more.
