Jewel Match DSi Review

MORE TREASURES TO DESTROY!

GAMEPLAY:
This is the classic match-three game where the basic idea is to swap the jewels of the board to create sets of three or more. The difference with Jewel Match 3, already reviewed here, is that it doesn’t mix other genres in a strange way and it isn’t a boring experience with an overused story.

The main idea of the game is to beat levels and to do so you need to destroy every tile in the background. It can be a gold or silver color. The main mode has a time limit and the less time used to beat the level, the higher your score will be.

You can control the game with the stylus all the time and the controls are well done. When you’re playing, pressing L/R will allow you to use your hammer and pressing the start button will pause the game.

The game presents three modes:

• Play Mode: The main mode of the game, you will play the 150 levels with a time limit.
• Relaxed Play: You will play the levels without a time limit, so just like the title says, you will feel relaxed when playing the game. You will also start from level one.
• Hotseat Play: It’s a multiplayer mode that’s played from the same console. You can only choose levels you have beaten before and the winner is the player who beats the level faster. There’s no Download Play or at least, Local Play.

There’s a list of different elements in the game, most of them will unlock with the time, not being available from level one:

• Gold tiles: You need to match over them to destroy them. Once you match every tile, you win the level.
  
• Silver tiles: They are the tiles over the gold ones. That means you will need to match twice the silver tiles to win the level.
  
• Hammers: There are three types of hammers on the game. After a certain number of matches you will get the first hammer, it can destroy a gem when it isn’t locked. If you don’t use it and keep waiting, you will get the second hammer, being able to destroy the gem. The tile is behind it and it works with chains too. Keep waiting a little longer and you will get the third hammer. It will destroy all the gems of the same color with the tiles as well as the chains.
  
• Pearl: After matching four gems, you will get one Pearl. Those can be matched with every gem.
  
• Helix: After matching five or more gems, you will get one Helix. Those can clean an entire row when activated.
  
• Locked gems: Gems that are locked with a chain. You need to include those in a match to release the gem.
  
• Double-Locked gems: Gems that are locked with two chains. You need to include those in two matches to release the gem.
  
• Boulders: Matching three of these will rebuild the tile behind them. If they match when falling, they do not make anything.
  
• Storm-Power Up: When available, you can shuffle the gems blowing to the microphone.
  
• Golden-Storm-Power Up: When available, you can shuffle the tiles blowing to the microphone.
  

The game offers a nice quantity of levels, 150 to be exact. You can also create up to four profiles, but this is mostly a good idea if you share your console with someone. The only way to replay a level when you’re playing is using the multiplayer mode because if you start the other two modes of the game, the only options available are “new game” and “continue”.

While the game is well done and it offers a good quality for a DSi game, I must mention that the jewel genre is over-saturated, not only on mobiles but also in DSi and 3DS eShops, making the game less appealing to users.

GRAPHICS & AUDIO:
The game looks nice being a DSi Ware game but it could have been a little better in some aspects. A nice touch present in the game is that the jewels have an animation which is not present in some jewel games for the DSi.

The audio is relaxing but you will get tired eventually. There are audio options, so you can hear your music when playing. The sound effects of the game are good but limited, also the quality of the sound and the music isn’t the best on DSi Ware.

PRESENTATION:
The game has a nice presentation. It offers four profiles to carry your progress, a good explanation of the game, a nice tutorial, and the levels offer a design variation. You can also set the volume of the sound and the music which is a feature not present in all DSi Ware games.

It also fails in some aspects: the multiplayer is on the same console, you can replay a level when you’re playing the game unless you use the multiplayer mode and the quality of the sound used.

CONCLUSION:
It’s a good jewel game for the DSi Ware, even when it’s over-saturated, it’s a good option for those who like jewel games or if you’re just a causal gamer. It isn’t a must have, but it’ one of the best options if you’re searching for a match-three game. It also offers a nice quantity of levels for $4.99 (500 Nintendo Points).