Review: Hazumi (3DS eShop)

Budget Balanced Block Breaking

Since it’s debut in 1976, the game Breakout has been ported to nearly every console imaginable. For those unfamiliar with Breakout by name, chances are you have played a variation of this classic. Your goal is to break all the blocks in a stage by bouncing a ball into them. You can control where the ball goes by changing the angle it bounces off of a paddle that you’re moving. Is this sounding familiar? Hazumi puts a spin on this classic formula, by removing the paddle, but allowing you to move the ball to the left and right, but not up and down through enclosed stages, still trying to break blocks.

The similarities stop between Hazumi and Breakout at each of the being a block breaker. Unlike Breakout, where your goal is to simply break all of the blocks on screen, Hazumi tasks players by adding various puzzles into the mix. In some levels, you must first change your ball's color to deal with different colored blocks, in others you need to navigate around hazards. One of Hazumi's only problems is that it has a rather high difficulty curve, and that stars are needed to progress. It is possible to earn up to 3 stars in every level, and in order to unlock higher levels, you need a certain number of stars. While this does force you to get good at the game to progress, it also could force you to repeat levels numerous times and cause a loss of interest.

Should you be stuck not earning more stars, there is still more to do. Hazumi features a level creator that uses almost all, if not all of the assets from the 100+ levels Hazumi offers. You can create levels as simple or as complicated as you'd like. The only drawback to this is that only 12 can be saved, and sadly, there is no way to share your creations.

Hazumi features a pixel art style that truly looks beautiful on the 3DS screen. The colors seem to almost bounce off of the screen, and all go together lovely. The music, chiptunes in this case are good, but sadly aren't anything to sing home about. The music does feel like it fits the genre though.

Hazumi does exactly what it set out to do, be a budget priced puzzle title with a unique twist. It is a quality experience that puts a fun spin on the block breaker genre, and one that all puzzle fans should look into. While the high difficulty curve might be an issue for some, there are few other puzzle games on the eShop for just around five.dollars that are this good.

8/10

Review Code Provided By: Eyecancer Games