It’s always fun to see a new title integrating a mechanic that can challenge the player to think about what they’re doing as they play. 99Moves tries to bring in a new limit to their 99 games (which would include 99Bullets and 99Seconds). Does this limit along with other gameplay mechanics put a genuine challenge on the table or is it not enough to keep the game interesting?

           As the title of the game would imply, you only have 99 chances to change the direction of V-99 (the character you play as) to navigate V-99 to the exit point. The biggest problem with this mechanic is that it’s not really all the limiting -- in the 12 missions of the game, we never ran out of moves once. The only time we ever ran out of moves was in one of the multiplayer modes that we’ll detail later. The only real challenge that could result from moves, then, would be attempting to complete a mission in as few moves as possible, but after a couple tries of each mission you most likely will have found the most efficient way of finishing the level.

            As a result, most of the challenge comes from attempting to collect as many points as possible (if you’re into that kind of thing) and/or the obstacles the game has. There are no actual enemies in 99Moves, just walls or obstacles that sometimes move to force you to use more moves. If you hit a wall or obstacle, you become invincible for a few seconds and are reflected so you’re moving in the opposite direction you were originally. After the period of invincibility, you become vulnerable to hitting obstacles again, and if you hit something at this point then it’s game over. You can get rid of this vulnerability by getting a turquoise points thing that also gives you 99,000 points. The other way to gain points is by skimming the wall with V-99, which just feels weird to attempt to do. V-99’s hibox is incredibly small, though -- it’s only a small red box centrally located on V-99, and the rest of his body is only there to get points by getting dangerously close to walls. This is an interesting way to get points, though, as it leads to a unique sort of risk versus reward system for points. Overall, though this game isn’t really too much of a challenge once you get used to its way of doing things.


           Besides the main Missions mode, there are three other modes to choose from. A Race mode (which is multiplayer only) has you and up to four other people competing to try to get to the end of the mission the fastest (the mission is one of the ones from Mission mode). If you die in this mode, you go back to the start with the same number of moves you had when you died (unless you died because you ran out of moves, in which case you’ve lost). A Survival mode (which is also multiplayer only) has you and up to four of your friends competing to find the most efficient and safe way to go about a level, with running out of moves or hitting too many obstacles both killing you permanently. Finally, an Arcade mode has you going through random levels with the intent of collecting as many points as possible. If you get all 5 turquoise point items, you’ll get a bonus level after that mission is completed.

           Some of the smaller things in this game help to make or break it, though. A really small online ranking system shows the Top 8 scores on any stage, along with your Top Friends and Your Position (both of which we were unable to view). This is all the the online ranking system shows. The graphics of this game are incredibly simple, though they are very distinct. The music doesn’t really add much to this game, it’s just kind of there, and there are only a few tracks in the whole game. There is a robotic-sounding announcer of sorts that brings up the obvious many times throughout the games, with instances including noting that the game you’re playing is “99Moves” all the time, saying “Points” whenever you pick up that item, and “Danger” whenever you hit something, which gets annoying fairly quickly. Finally, something that we’re not entirely sure is intentional or not (we think it’s not, but it could be in some instances) is the aforementioned invincibility mechanic allowing you to just skip entire areas of many levels. Since, while you’re invincible, and you can just go right through walls, if an area is close enough to the one you’re currently in, you can take damage and then quickly get to the other area while invincible. This can allow for you to complete a level in very few moves, but in some cases it also allows you to go out of bounds. These points of the game may make or break it for you, but we suspect that it’ll turn off many from replaying the game much if at all.


           99Moves is an interesting game on paper, but the final product isn’t too much to be desired. Fans of the previous games in the series may be interested in this, and if you’re completely sold on the concept, you may have some fun with this for a while. The multiplayer modes have some small potential to be fun a few times, but after this you’ll likely move to one of the numerous other better multiplayer games out now. The mechanics of 99Moves are weird and don’t work very well, and it’s just not a game you’ll find yourself addicted to or even one that’ll likely be replayed much. Just be wary that 99Moves is certainly not a polished experience and won’t stay good for long, especially once you learn its tricks.




Review copy provided by EnjoyUp Games.