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Genre: Arcade
Developer: Freeverse
File Size: 5.6MB
Version Reviewed: 1.1
Requirements: iPhone 2.0 software
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
Age Rating: 4+
Price $2.99

I don’t pretend to know much about the inner workings of Freeverse, but I can say this; they like their labs puzzling, and their monkeys burning. Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab came out for the Macintosh back in 2000, and it was pretty good. Although it featured various single player games (most notable of which was “Zen” mode, in which the tone settled down and the blocks never sped up), it really shined in multiplayer versus mode. Here, it was no longer enough to just align the descending balls; you needed to line then up in a certain way so you could send “bad” balls to your opponent. The games were more intense, more fun, and (thank heavens) shorter.

It’s not at all surprising, then, that Freeverse selected Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab (BMPL) as one of their first Mac to iPhone ports. The iPhone screen orientation is perfect for falling blocks and balls and what have you, and the graphics are well suited to the iPhone’s capabilities. It’s just a great match. And yet, BMPL for the iPhone/iPod touch left me wanting.

This dissatisfaction stems almost entirely from the lack of multiplayer. There is a versus mode included, but it’s you against a monkey. And not even your monkey; a computer monkey. And not even your computer monkey, the iPhone’s computer monkey. Now, obviously, two people playing BMPL on the same phone would lead to fights (and arrests in some areas of the south). However, the ability to do it over WiFi or the 3G network would kill. I can’t say how difficult it would be to set that up with Apple’s iPhone SDK, so it’s quite possible such a feature simply wouldn’t be worth the programming time. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m not saddened by the loss of multiplayer here.

That aside, BMPL for the iPhone is a faithful adaptation of the Mac version. Five modes are included here:

• Color Reaction – Match colored balls by placing them next to each other
• Hex Bonding – Assemble rows of falling pieces (ala Tetris)
• Test Tube – Rotate balls in-line to create matches
• Mission Mode – Mixing all modes, with a new goal presented at each level
• Zen Mode – Calming graphics, music and gameplay…and haikus!

Different modes will appeal to different gamers. My wife, who’s an ace with Tetris, prefers Hex Bonding. I tend to do better matching colors than aligning funky shapes into rows, so I have more fun with Color Reaction. When we feel like exercising our brain without inducing stress, we both go for Zen Mode. The different modes add some life to the game, ensuring you won’t get bored with BMPL as quickly as you would with a simple Tetris clone.

No matter which mode you play, you will be asked to deal with over 15 various power-ups and the “bad” blocks that aren’t disposed of easily. These will quickly clog up your tube and force you to alter your constantly strategy if you want to survive. Sometimes, luck is the only way past them. You’ve just got to get the right power-up or pattern at the right time.

Now, we also have to talk about the controls. To place your blocks, you simply slide your finger across the iPhone/iPod touch’s screen. The falling balls slide with you, and a shadow at the bottom of the playfield indicates where they’ll be landing. This is no problem. Spinning the balls can be, though. To do this, you touch in area surrounding the falling pattern. No worries, until things really start to speed up. Quite often, I accidentally made the balls fall or slide when I wanted them to spin. In a frantic game like this, control is key, and you hate to see a strong session ruined because your proximity tapping is off just a little bit (and one mistake can quickly lead to doom). I can’t offer a better control method than what Freeverse provided, but the only option available will prove frustrating to many players.

The game sure looks great, though. It’s as colorful as ever, and cleaner than the Mac version. A wide variety of ball styles and backgrounds give the game “pop” and keep it looking fresh. It’s fun to look at it, and that helps make the game fun to play.

Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab is only $2.99. You’ll get more than $2.99’s worth of satisfaction out of the game. Still, I have to drop it a rating point because of the lack of human to human multiplayer in versus mode (you can’t even share your high scores online) and because the controls can be frustrating. I instead suggest you pick up Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab for your Mac, and look elsewhere for your Freeverse iPhone fun.