In this review, we reach for new heights in the Game Boy Advance game, Egg Mania. We find out how well this puzzle game plays.
This game was released in 2002. It was released on multiple other consoles as well at the time.
There really isn’t much of a storyline in this game. Nothing is really mentioned in the game itself anyway.
There are two different areas where you can find different game modes. There is main modes and extra modes.
The main modes feature a standard you against the computer modes of play. There is Over Easy and Hard Boiled. Over Easy gives you the easiest mode of play against 8 opponents. Beat this mode and the game will tell you that you should challenge hard boiled. In Hard Boiled, you’ll get three difficulty settings: Training, medium, and hard. Each difficulty is harder than the last. If you beat the game in anything other than hard, the game will tell you to challenge the next difficulty. If you win, you get a screen congratulating you. You’ll also unlock a character in the process. Medium and hard both unlock a single character.
You’ll also be able to choose a character. Different characters have different animations and looks, but nothing separates them otherwise (at least, so far as we could tell anyway).
You’ll start at the bottom of the tower. You take on the first opponent regardless of difficulty. If you beat that opponent, you’ll get a free life and advance to the next. Fail and you’ll lose a free life. Beat all 8 opponents to win.
The objective for each level is the same: build a tower high enough so you can reach your start position. Reach the start position first to win.
You use your D-pad to move you character around. Left and right moves your character side to side. Up allows you to jump. An important thing to note about movement is the fact that if you hold up, you’ll slow your descent. Holding down means you descend faster. In harder difficulties, this can give you a slight edge over your opponents as you control your velocity regardless if you jump, falling off your tower, or getting back on.
Meanwhile, “A” will allow you to use whatever you collect and “B” will rotate a piece if you obtained a piece. Your “R” shoulder button will allow you to discard an item if you need it. The ability to discard is actually a big thing to know as it allows you to more strategically play your game.
You might be tempted to simply build the tower with as few pieces as possible. You’ll quickly learn that there is another major factor in this game: tower stability. As you stack your tower, you’ll notice a gauge along the bottom of the screen. If you are in the green, you’re tower is rock solid. If you are in the red, that means a collapse is imminent. Note that if you are in the red, any piece placed below the highest point won’t contribute to instability.
If you reach the point of instability, your tower will crumble until all you have are rows that are completely across. It’s OK to screw up and leave a hole or two, but the ultimate goal is to try and make your tower as solid as possible. Hole free is the ideal condition to have.
Another thing to note is the fact that you don’t have to build your tower all the way to the top. Instead, the goal is to have your egg grab a hold of the flying object at the top. One great strategy is to build your tower as solid as possible. As you get close to the top, you can just stack two pieces on top of each other and jump to finish to skip a small gap for a faster win. You can, after all, sacrifice stability you saved up towards the end. I’ve even had the odd win where the tower collapses as I reach the goal. It still counts as a win.
One secret to helping you build your tower faster is to get two or three layers filled at the same time. If you get two layers filled in a single piece, a number of blocks will be automatically placed on top of your tower. This goes every other block. If, however, you get the ultimate three block fill, then you will gain an entire additional layer for free. This can really give you a boost in momentum, though these bonuses tend to be bonuses of opportunity more than anything else.
Of course, since this is two player battle mode, there are plenty of other aspects to this game as well. The first thing to note is the fact that there are various characters that float around attempting to steal your piece. Sometimes, they wind up stealing as you place it, so avoidance can go a long way here. One interesting strategy is to collect a piece you intend on discarding and intentionally shoving it into the thief’s direction instead. You not only discard your piece in an interesting way, but you also eliminate an obstacle quickly in the process.
Other opponents that appear can show up anywhere. They either stun your egg or knock him off the tower. Regardless, this costs you time and potentially the ability to defend your tower in the process. This includes bubbles, rocket ships, tentacles, and flying dragons among other things.
Additionally, you can use power ups that appear in the playing field. One power up that enhances your ability is the shoes. The shoes will permit you to jump higher and increase your vertical movement speed as well. This can make a huge difference in your game, though the effects are temporary.
The only other power up that helps you is the trowel. The trowel fills in gaps that can generally be reached for a certain number of blocks. You won’t gain points in solo mode for this, but regardless, this can save you a tonne of time filling in mistakes you made earlier. Since it acts like a liquid, it will generally try and reach the lowest point in the tower if there is a path that’s open.
Other items serve to distract or hamper your opponents progress. The electric bolt places a storm cloud over your opponents tower. For a brief period of time, it will emit lightening. If your opponent touches that lightening, that opponent can get knocked off, costing that opponent valuable seconds.
Another weapon is the hammer. This can have two effects: knocking your opponent off their tower, or temporarily destabilizing your opponents tower. If the hammer hits your opponent, then that opponent will get knocked off the tower. More critically, if the hammer hits the tower, then it will make the tower unstable. In the latter case, any layer that has gaps in it will crumble, sending your opponent backwards on the construction side of things.
Bombs can be one of the most interesting weapons in the whole game. If the bomb is in the air and hits your opponent, then your opponent will get knocked off the tower. However, if that bomb explodes while on the tower, then it can punch a huge hole in that tower. This can increase instability and set your opponent back by quite a distance. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that you can pick up bombs sent your way and throw them back. This is how you defend your tower. It can be quite satisfying using your opponents bombs against them.
There are two ways to win in this game. The most obvious is to reach the flying object at the top. The less obvious way is to drown your opponent in the drink. As you play, you’ll notice that water levels will rise. If you send bombs and otherwise slow your opponent down, the drink can actually catch up to them. If any part of the tower falls below the water levels, then the tower will collapse. This will send that opponent into the drink and cause the game to declare you the winner. Just make sure you avoid that negative outcome yourself!
In addition to this, there are the “extra” modes. The first mode is “Survival”. Survival is exactly the same thing as the normal mode. The only difference is that the game will throw an unlimited number of opponents at you until you lose. The goal is to get the biggest win streak as possible. Just like the normal mode, you’ll also be given the choice to pick from the training, normal, and hard difficulties.
Solo is the only mode where you play for points. You basically build the tower as per normal. Of course, you don’t have an opponent to worry about in this mode. Instead, you are focused on trying to gain combo’s. Combo’s are earned when you lay a piece down and complete a layer. If, on the next piece, you complete a second layer, you’ll get a combo. Keep going and you’ll keep adding massive bonuses to your total score.
Time trial pits you against yourself. You’ll first face an opponent that mirrors you. This is basically the game getting an idea of how fast you play. After you win, the game will save your time. The next time you play, you’ll play that ghost character again. That ghost character will complete the level at the precise time you got your top time. It’s interesting because that ghost will play the pieces for that match instead of what it played in the game you got your top score.
The fastest pace game is probably bomb mode. This mode starts you off with a half build solid tower with no stability issues. However, a vast majority of the items you get are bombs. You might get the odd piece or other power up, but the theme is just bombs, bombs, and more bombs. Blast your opponent into the drink as best you can. On harder difficulties, it can end up being a solid stream of bombs going both directions after a while. At that point, you are dependant on luck more than anything else to get you by because there’s just no timing those things after a while. Just mash “A” and move quickly.
One thing about this game is the fact that play is quite flexible. You can wander deep into the crevices you accidentally made with the right piece and ram a few smaller pieces in place to re-stabilize your tower. This can be very useful in terms of recovering from large mistakes. I’ve even had the odd time here and there where I was able to skip over a block and fill in a gap. Rare, but I’ve done it.
That, unfortunately, is also a double edged sword. This is because sometimes the game gets confused as to where you are placing a piece. For that, you have to pay extra close attention to the block shadow. Otherwise, you could find yourself making a second misplacement which is usually rally bad. This may sound like something that is a bit obvious, but when you get into the faster paced hard levels, this quickly becomes a very easy mistake to make. It’s especially problematic because if you tap “A”, there’s no undo, last second adjustment, or cancellation. You are stuck with that decision.
The learning curve is quite good. If you are stuck, the game also features a learning feature as well.
Another positive is the difficulty curve. The game starts off quite easy. As you get into the later levels, the games difficulty does ramp up and requires some very quick reflexes at times.
A problem with this game is that once you go outside of the two player vs environment, the game seems like it runs out of ideas. There’s no real puzzle mode or special one player challenges available. The only single player mode is just a normal tower building mode that has points attached to it. The game is not really a one trick pony, but I can understand how some people might feel that way.
Still, I will give the game some credit for a degree of novelty. It transforms that Tetris style of play into something this game does make its own. Given how many variations there are of Tetris by this point in time, that is actually a pretty good achievement.
Generally, this game has some things going for it and some things holding it back. Working for it are learning and difficulty curves. There is also that added bonus that this game has that feel of being something novel even though there is clear roots in Tetris involved here. Unfortunately, what holds this game back is the fact that there aren’t very many modes outside of the two player vs. style of play. Controls, while flexible, can also be finicky as well. So, a pretty solid game as far as I’m concerned.
Graphically speaking, this game does have a way of being impressive. The biggest way it impresses is the variety of different levels it offers. While there is overlap in obstacles, a vast majority of the levels features its own obstacles, piece art style, and animated backgrounds. To add to this, there is the fact that there are a number of different characters. One might wonder if creating the characters felt a bit like Easter for the developers somehow. Special effects are decent enough. So, in my view, a great effort all around.
Audio is pretty decent. The music is decent. Those sound effects work pretty decently. The voice samples, however, really gave the game some personality which is not too dissimilar to Worms games, but still unique enough anyway. So, it gets a thumbs up from me from that front as well.
Overall, this game presents a novel fun distraction for fans of puzzle games. While the roots are clearly from Tetris, it manages to make it into its own game with enough changes. The learning curve and difficulty curve are well thought out. The controls can be both flexible, but also finicky at times. Also, there is a sense of flat play given that is almost exclusively relies on two player battles with few exceptions. Graphics are nicely done and so is the audio. So, a solid game all around.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Normal mode: lost on level 6 in hard mode.
Beat the game in bomb mode.
Fastest time in Time Trial mode is 2:02 (wanted to crack the 2 minute mark, but was unable to).
General gameplay: 19/25
Replay value: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 76%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
