Home » iPhone Games: Bejeweled 2 Review

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Popcap games developed and released Bejeweled for the iPhone. This game became so popular that the developers went ahead and released its sequel Bejeweled 2 which is also a classic puzzle game for the iPhone. This game is one of the most popular puzzle games online with many gaming and gambling sites including king.com offering a chance for surfers to play this game online.

As far as the iPhone is concerned, this game is one of the most expensive games available with a price tag of $10. Would you pay for this game when you can play it online for free (at least in part)? Of course, having this game on your iPhone means you can play it whenever you want. However, does it offer enough to justify its price tag? Read ahead to find out.

If you loved the classic puzzle games of the old which worked on a "simple to understand but hard to master" premise, you will love Bejeweled 2. Understanding how the game works is not very difficult. The game has two modes and you can choose to play the game in either mode. However, the gameplay is not very different in both the modes.

At the start of a stage youre presented with a collection of various colored gems filling the screen. Your goal is to connect these jewels together to create a chain of 3 or more of the same jewel. You do this by simple dragging any gem you wish to move over to an adjacent vertical or horizontal space. If your move doesnt result in a match of three or more identical shapes being made, it will be reset. This prevents you from simply dragging a shape anywhere you want to.

The task of creating chains is not very difficult to understand. However, you will have to play very fast to end up with a decent score if you create only small chains consisting of three identical jewels only. Even then, you will lag behind others who are experts in this game. If you want to master the game yourself, you will have to learn how to create large chains and create combos of your own. Only then can you get the maximum score in the shortest possible time. In this regard, this game is very similar to chess.

The trick to winning a large number of points in the shortest possible time is to create long chains to obtain greater bonuses. Creating a chain consisting of four jewels will result in a glowing gem on the board. Once this glowing gem too is matched in a chain, a bunch of gems surrounding the glowing gem will be destroyed and your points tally will see a big increase. A five gem chain is the biggest chain that you can create. This move results in a super gem being created which, if matched in a three jewel chain, will destroy all the gems on the board. Large chains apart, a combo will also help you increase your points. A combo is created when the creation of a single chain leads to realignment of the position of other gems into chains without any additional moves.

As far as graphics are concerned, they are sharp and colorful and do not distract you from the game. The background images remain static to ensure the focus and attention of the player is not hampered. Creation of a combo or a chain results in fantastic explosions of color. However, apart from this, there is not a lot of activity on the screen to distract you from the game. This is a good thing because fancy graphics and effects only create an obstacle in the gameplay of a puzzle game.

The audio production is much like the graphics, very solid, but ultimately limited in scope. The various sound effects are particularly pleasing to the ears, while the music is very laid back and conducive to thoughtful gaming for the most part.

It is very common for the players of such games to follow the list of high scores religiously. However, this facility is not present in this game and there is no means of keeping track of ones high scores in this game. Further, there are no variations or additional modes available as far as this game is concerned. The absence of these two features is a disappointment.

Bejeweled 2 is a fun puzzler, that could take months to master, but can feel limited at times, especially as the game can often feel random moreso than challenging or strategic, which is how a puzzler should feel. The price point may also be a little high for new entrants to the series, but for those well versed in Bejeweled already, this portable gem could keep you occupied for many an hour throughout that daily commute.

Overall - 6/10

By Dan Fletcher

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