Nintendo Okie

The big talk about the eShop is how it’s finally starting to come into its own. Up until this point it had mostly been the home of DSiWare games and re-releases of Game Boy titles. There has been very little in the way of original, 3D content. That’s slowly been changing over the last couple of months and it’s set to really take off in 2012. Until then we’ve gotten a couple of gems from Nintendo to keep us busy until then. The latest game from the venerable publisher is Pushmo, a block puzzle game starring marshmallow shaped sumo wrestlers.

What You Need to Know

Mallow, a portly character who reminds me very much of a sumo wrestler is tasked with saving children who’ve been trapped at the top of puzzles, called pushmos. You’ll push and pull blocks in up to three layers of depth to build star steps that lead to the top of the puzzle. Reaching the top and rescuing children is the ultimate goal, but how you get there and how long it takes will depend solely on your reasoning skills.

Puzzles, Puzzles Everywhere

Pushmo is a puzzle game. It doesn’t hide that fact. In reality it will brutalize your brain with its simple mechanics. The rules are simple, pull blocks out or push blocks back in to create a path from the ground to the top of the puzzle. It’s that simplicity that allows the game to be easy to learn, yet extremely difficult to master. The early puzzles very gently ease you in to the mechanics of the game showing you some very simple problems to overcome. Once you get past the tutorial levels, though, all bets are off and the difficulty begins to ramp up and ramp up quickly. Easy stair step puzzles make way to checkerboards or insanity that requires some very complex movements to complete. Get even one block out of place and you’re stuck. The only hope you have is to reset the puzzle and start again. Then things like manholes get added in to the mix, which adds another layer of dimension to an already complex problem.

The puzzles alternate between simple colored block puzzles to cute pixilated fruit, game characters and animals. There are over 250 puzzles for you to complete and you’ll definitely be in for a long experience because these puzzles will really tax the old melon.

Create and Share. It’s Easy

Once you’ve mastered the tutorial levels you’re given access to the Pushmo studio. This is where you can try to skills at creating your own puzzles, alter existing puzzles, or download new puzzles from your friends. The editor is simple to use. It’s just a grid based area with a pencil tool and a set of colors; just place the blocks wherever you want and create problems as simple or as complex as you can imagine.

Sharing your levels with friends is pretty easy as well. Anytime you’ve created a puzzle and completed the solution yourself you’re allowed to save the puzzle as a QR code, which can then be scanned by anyone that’s unlocked the Pushmo Studio. I’ve said before I like the use of QR codes in games and I think it’s great that we’re getting some original games that really focus on the community and allowing them to enhance the experience. There is basically an unlimited supply chain out there. All you need to do is find it. The puzzles could easily last months that way.

The Difficulty Can Be A Bit Uneven

I said earlier that the difficulty ramps up and it ramps up quickly. That’s true, but there’s also a bit of unevenness to that ramp. There were some puzzles that I spent dozens of minutes or more on before finding the solution. This would be followed by a puzzle that I quickly found the solution to and wondered why it hadn’t come earlier in the game.

This unevenness can be somewhat frustrating for people, but luckily Nintendo has allowed you the opportunity to skip puzzles that are giving you trouble and come back to them later. You just have to spend a few minutes trying to solve it before the option becomes available.

Conclusion

Pushmo is one of those gems that doesn’t seem to come along very often. The gameplay is simple, but that simplicity allows for some very complex puzzles. The visuals are saccharine sweet. The music is light and bouncy. The game is a lot of fun and the characters are unique. The eShop hasn’t had many original titles released, but if the titles that do come out continue to be of this quality then we’re going to be in for some great times in the Nintendo downloadable arena. At $6 Pushmo is a steal that’s going to provide you with hours of enjoyment that can be extended indefinitely. I can’t recommend this game enough.

Final Score:

Review copy of the game purchased on the Nintendo eShop.
Played through more than 170 of the 250 included puzzles as well as about a dozen downloadable ones.
Total Play Time: 9 hours