Fruitbash is one of the latest Match 3 games to hit Xbox Indie Games, but does it bring anything new to the table?
If you are not familiar with the Match 3 genre, it is a simple concept. In this case, fruit are on a board made up of squares. You must match three or more of the same fruit by moving one into the same row or column. Once the fruit are matched they are removed from the board and the empty squares are filled by the above fruit. Fruitbash features a popular addition to this genre that to complete a board you must light each square on the board by removing a fruit on it.
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There are two single player modes to play; Campaign and Challenge and three multiplayer modes with options for local play, system link and Xbox Live multiplayer for up to four players. The Campaign mode contains twenty missions which are unlocked as you complete them. The Challenge mode contains five challenges and can be played at any time. The complexity and difficulty of the board design increases as you progress. You start with fairly square design looking boards which makes it easy to light the squares. Later levels increase the challenge by shaped boards which make it harder to match three fruits, so careful advance planning is required to get the fruit into the correct squares.
The later levels can be quite tricky at times. You will often have unlit squares in the ‘corners’ of boards and it can take some time and luck to get fruits over to those areas to be matched. In one of the later levels I spent a good ten minutes trying to light one square. Highscores are saved for each level and it records the number of moves, your score and your time. So there is some replayability to try and improve on them though I would have liked to be able to enter your name so other players can set their own scores. Everything works fine but it feels like it is lacking something while playing the game, I can’t quite put my finger on what is missing but there are no time limits or penalties for mismatching fruits or special fruits which clear rows or columns.
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The presentation is done very well in a arcade style layout that is easy to navigate. The graphics are nicely done with a bright and colourful design. They suit a puzzle game and work well with the arcade presentation. The music feels a little strange, it is a Caribbean style song which loops continuously. I guess the only relation is that fruit is tropical hence the music style. Sound effects are minimal with a glass shattering sound when matching fruit, again not sure why, along with a few others which do the job but are not inspiring.
Fruitbash costs 80 :MSPoints: which is good value for money and worth checking out the trial at least. The two game modes will keep you busy for some hours. This is a more casual Match 3 game, ideal for quick bursts or newcomers to gaming. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with the game, I think it could do with a bit more creativity to make it something special and stand out from the many other games in this genre.
More information and to download the trial or purchase the full version of Fruitbash can be found on the Xbox Marketplace. The homepage can be found at http://www.fruitbash.com/.
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