Columns

M

MasterAkumaMatata

Established Member
Before there was Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, there was Columns.

Drift back to ancient Phoenicia and challenge yourself with Columns, a game favored by middle eastern merchants. In this mesmerizing pastime, tinker with your riches to align glittering jewels across, down or diagonally.

As you line up colors, the gems vanish and more sparklers drop from above. The challenge increases as the jewels fall more rapidly. You must quickly align them before the columns reach the top.

You don't have to be a joystick whiz to excel, even at the hardest levels. Try Flash Columns and make a flashing jewel disappear before time runs out. Enjoy solitary games or play with a friend.

Imagine yourself on the warm Mediterranean coast, or drifting over a languid sea. Forget the passage of time, and tickle your mind with Columns, the brilliant game of strategy and skill.
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BTW, since Columns was released on other systems (SMS/MIII, GG, SCD/MCD, TG16/PCE) as well, feel free to discuss those versions. :)
 

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Gimme Columns over Tetris any day!

Tetris and Columns are not that much alike anyway, but back then those games where the only 2 brick games. Nowadays there's just too much of them.

I thill think the music is very good, and I especially like the GG version. Games like that are just meant to be played while on the road ;)
 
It's an ok game, but I don't find it nearly as addictive as tetris. Probably because once the pace picks up, my brain can pick out shapes a lot faster than it can little squares of color. Also, the color shifting effect when you press the buttons doesn't really convey any sense of movement, which makes it trickier, IMHO. Still, a decent puzzler for its time.
 
Columns is cool, but I find it the hardest out of tetris, columns & puyo puyo..

Gotta dig that music!
 
I've been playing Game Gear Columns the last few nights :) The music is just too awesome.

Does anyone have Super Columns though? I recently got that and can't figure out the rules to the story mode. Other than that its basically the same game, only with music that isn't as good. Super my ass...
 
I always hate it when all the reviews call columns a "tetris clone". They are two completely different games. The only thing they share is the genre of "puzzle game".

In tetris, you fit shapes to fill space. Advancement is achieved by filling space with shapes. There is nothing to do with colors.

In colums, you match adjacent colors. Advancement is achieved by matching colors. There is nothing to do with shape.

If anything, I'd say columns is a Dr. Mario clone (though I don't know which came first).

I find tetris a more fun puzzle gae, though they aren't the same type of gameplay so there isn't a direct comparison. I loved Dr. mario much more than columns, because there was an actual goal involved in each level, the elimination of the germs, and you could fight your friend at it. Puyo Puyo is more of a columns clone, definitely again not the same type of game as tetris. But I like puyo more for all the different gameplay modes and options, and the sound effects and graphic effects and the high-strung play-style.

I have columns on the segaCD 4 in 1 disk, and I was particularly board playing it. I should try columns 3, I assume it has more gameplay options?

I really wish there were more good puzzley-type games on the gennie. All we really have is about 10 different versions of columns, and zoop and klax which aren't all that fun. Nintendo had way more fun puzzley games of all sorts of different styles (like yoshi, adv. of lolo, etc). And all the new systems just have 50 variations of Bubble-Pop, which isn't particularly challenging. It's only novelty is the fact that it has the bubble-bobble dragons in it, which really just makes you wish to all bleeping hell that they'd make a new REAL bubble bobble game for american consoles (and not that rainbow islands junk either).

I did find this one japanese import puzzley game for the game-gear at DiscLand. You try to save the princess by walking up these blocks of stairs and punching these blocks of rock and trying to avoid or trap these dragons within the blocks.

JMT.
 
I never got into Columns much, and have only had a fickle relationship with the puzzle genre in general. That being said, I feel compelled to mention that Tetris Attack / Panel de Pon kicks some serious ass. :)
 
I really wish there were more good puzzley-type games on the gennie. All we really have is about 10 different versions of columns, and zoop and klax which aren't all that fun.
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I think Klax is a pretty good game, but aren't you forgetting Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine? Also, I believe there is a rare MD version of Tetris in existence, as well.
 
Originally posted by it290@Oct 5, 2004 @ 09:55 AM

I think Klax is a pretty good game, but aren't you forgetting Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine? Also, I believe there is a rare MD version of Tetris in existence, as well.

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Dr. Robotniks == Puyo Puyo = Columns-style game.

The MD version of tetris is no fun. Sometimes I wonder if my love of Nintendo tetris is more to do with the classic graphics of the blocks and the classic music than with the game itself. But with awful graphics for the blocks and lackluster music, I just found no interest in MD tetris.

JMT.
 
I agree that the classic graphics and music for the gameboy tetris do give it an unmatched feeling. However, equally important IMHO is the feel. Some tetris games just don't have the right feel, whether it be the delay between moves when holding left/right, or that nice 'oomph' when you put a block into place from the side.

Also, not to spam the thread with more Genesis puzzlers, but there's also Lemmings, Humans, and Bomberman (if you consider Bomberman's genre to be 'puzzle' and not 'Bomberman').
 
Funny you mention SPF II, it's my current fav puzzle game.

And although I also have fond memories of Tetris, I always preferred Columns. I can't really say why; I just did. I think it might be because I played it on the Genesis while I only played Tetris on handhelds (including my TI-86. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only nerd on here that wasted time during class playing Tetris.) Though that explaination really makes no sense. So, I guess I'll never know why :blush:
 
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