Big Kahuna Reef Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: January 18, 2005 When developers set out to clone a popular game, they can go in one of two directions: Either do a quick knockoff in the hopes of making a fast buck or infuse the core gameplay with enough ingenuity to create something fresh and exciting. With respect to the Bejeweled category, in which players form matches of three in a row by clicking on adjacent game pieces to swap them, we've seen plenty of developers take the former road. It seems the sun won't set until someone releases a game in which players line up gems, coins, candy or any number of oddball items in a never-ending quest for a higher score. Even though the differences between these games are minimal, players can't get enough of them. As a result, few developers have been compelled to push the envelope. One glaring exception is Reflexive Entertainment, which has just unleashed Big Kahuna Reef. Big K, as I will now call it, is like a shark attack on complacency; if you dive in expecting a Bejeweled clone with fish, then it's going to catch you off guard and swallow you whole. That's not to say Big K won't appeal to casual gamers. On the contrary, match-em-up fans should feel at ease while they use their mouse pointer to line up starfish, pearls and seashells. As game pieces disappear, replacements pour in from the top of the display. Like the popular Jewel Quest, some items are placed over a box. Matching one of these game pieces breaks open the crate and releases a fish into the beautiful corral reef surrounding the puzzle. When you've opened all of the boxes, the level ends. There are two single-player modes: standard and relaxed. In the former, you're given a limited amount of time in which to finish a level before you lose a life and have to restart. If you're cutting it close, you can choose purchase extra minutes at the cost of one life or risk trying to complete the level. Relaxed mode does away with the pressure of time and allows for a more laid back approach. Scoring is done in a manner similar to other games in this category: the more matches you make following a swap, the more points you earn. In a cool variation, you don't lose your bonus immediately following the last match; instead, a Tiki god located on the right of the screen rises higher each time a match opens a box. He'll remain elevated for a few seconds, allowing you to launch another series of combinations. Initial matches earn three points apiece; once, I got as high as 93 points per match. That's where Reflexive takes a hard right turn from the typical Bejeweled clone. As Big K progresses, the developers toss new things into the mix, including boxes that require multiple matches to break and locked game pieces that can't be moved until after you include them as part of a match. In addition, the level design offers several interesting twists. Only the top part of some puzzles fill up with game pieces until you unlock an item blocking access to a lower region, for example. Other levels feature game pieces located in notches, forcing you to work the board so that matching items wind up next to the trouble spots. As you make matches, a fishnet with which you can scoop any game piece off the board takes shape. Watch out for the skeleton fish, though; they create new boxes when linked together. As you no doubt realize, Big K requires careful planning. Yet its difficulty arc is gradual enough that players without much skill in this category should be able to complete about one-fourth of the game's 100 levels in regular mode before things get tough. (The higher levels are no day on the beach.) It's rare to see a release that can both challenge veterans and embrace casual players; Big K strikes that elusive balance. Subtle touches help. For starters, players can create new matches while combinations are being activated. Big K also automatically saves your progress should you quit and allows you to pick up where you left off. Finally, if you lose all of your lives, you can begin a new game at the last puzzle you reached. There's even a Mouse Party multiplayer mode in which two or more participants can play competitively or cooperatively on the same computer, providing you have more than one mouse connected to your PC. (I was unable to test this mode.) One of the delights of Big K is how good it looks, which isn't surprising considering it comes from the people who made the graphically stunning Ricochet series of Breakout games. The developers at Reflexive have used their artistic talent and programming expertise to fashion a gorgeous underwater world in which a variety of realistic-looking fish dart about while you match game pieces. As you complete puzzles, you unlock new fish, allowing you to unwind between levels as you populate one of three corral reefs in any manner you see fit. The best part? A single click of the mouse turns Big K's teeming underwater vista into your regular Windows screensaver. Will Big K appeal to everyone? For all of its gameplay innovation and technical savvy, it's still a matching game. Yet it's colorful enough to stand out from the other fish in the sea and pulls off enough new tricks that it should entertain even the most jaded players. If you grow green around the gills when you think of playing another matching game, toss down a Dramamine and give Big K a shot. Chances are, it'll be a long time before you come up for air.