Girl Gamer

Sadly, not much innovation has been made to Bejeweled 2 since it became popular on the PC. It still functions the same, plays the same, and looks the same. But there is pleasantness in familiarity.

Using the iPhone’s touch-screen capability, all you do is perform a simple tap for each move. Touch a jewel of choice once, then hit an adjacent jewel in any perpendicular direction to switch places between them. Make a set of 3 same colored jewels vertically or horizontally to destroy them. Clear a line of 4 or more jewels to earn a power gem, that when used explodes nearby gems. Clear a line of 5 jewels and receive a hyper cube that will remove any color gem on the entire screen that swaps places with it. Clear multiple sets for combos and extra points.

There are three versions of gameplay. The first is classic play where you earn points in order to level up, each subsequent level taking more points to complete. The second version is action. Action is a time-based mode. You must break a certain amount of sets within a given amount of time to move on the next level. The third version is Endless. Hours spent in this mode, and I have yet to come close to reaching the end.

My favorite part of this game (aside from all the precious stones) is the music and the level transitions. You hear an awesome techno soundtrack while you play, and when you complete a level; you are whooshed through a colorful vortex that zips you into the next stage.

The downside to this addicting game is that Bejeweled 2 has no multiplayer mode implemented in this version. What a shame. No wi-fi challenges to your friends, and no battle modes. Do I see a future update here?