There is a story behind the game that involves the Evil villain, Devil Kuku from the planet Babari whose galactic tyranny now has him lusting for earth. Your job, with some help from your friends, is to enter the Cereal tournament and block Devil Kuku from taking reign on our wonderful planet.
“Playing around the blocks, the midget warriors instantly upgrade their own skills . The one most active player can transform into Hyper Mode and attack all others with its overwhelming Power. The opponents can steal the transform pill if their collective beat-down was successful. Now, it is time to challenge!” – gamengame.com
Game Area
BlockMaster has a variety of areas to visit during the game. Your Journal Book is a step-by-step guide that helps you through the progress of your missions and current goals. The Power Territory is a large community map where guilds can overtake territories and protect their own. The Lounge is an area where you will encounter NPC and be able to trade items, participate in community chat. The Café is the web-based community café site that is linked to the BlockMaster game client.
Game Play and Controls
The controls for BlockMaster are minimalist and utilize the direction keys plus keys for punch, ball, block, item, and trigger. I liked these controls; I found them to be intuitive and easy to navigate. Using these controls I was able to gain EXP, BOLT, and PWR, all helping me with my battle.
The game had many match options when I first began. I first played in the Exterminatory Match. If choosing One Match, Individual Match, or Team Match, you are greeted with a selection of rooms that you may join. You may also create your own room and wait for it to populate. Once in the Exterminatory Match my goal was somewhat unclear but I quickly realized that it was my directive to seek out the foe within a jungled maze and obliterate him.
This particular match allowed me to gain a lot of experience but wasn’t as action-packed as I would have liked. A few extra enemies and possibly more detailed environment were a few of the things I craved in this match.
Once I had gained some experience I ventured into the dungeon where the enemies were significantly more challenging to beat. Throwing bombs and an intruding BOSS made this level all kinds of excitement. At this time I discovered how important it was to understand the game’s skill system and how it could work for me.
When asked what makes the skill system in BlockMaster so special, developers responded that “The core of Block Master is “real-time skill deck system”. Players can combine punch, ball and block according to their properties and preferences, on real-time basis obviously. For example, if the opponent has strong punches, you don’t want to get close to him. You will have to upgrade either ball or block so that you can beat him from a distance. The point is that once you master one skill, it will be stronger, but there will be new limits in mastering other skills as counter property.”
The general gameplay of Block Master is clean and simple with a great opportunity for community growth and involvement and more in-depth gaming experiences. With talks of a user-created map editor, the addition of such a feature would most certainly increase replay value.
The Visuals
The graphics for BlockMaster and are cute, simple and stylized. The Characters are fun and rendered with 2D gradients and the environments and movements are also simple and concise. Where the visuals really hold their own is in the effects. The explosions and punches, as well as transformations into hypermode were some of my favorite things to look at. The Characters are customizable with a fun creation tool and I am sure that part of the simplicity is what will allow the 12 vs. 12 player Group Beat Down to run smoothly and effectively.
Sound
Listening to yourself playBlockMaster can be a great way to keep track of just what is happening on screen. The sounds of foes, opponents and an incoming BOSS will aid in your reaction. For the most part, the sound was on par with the rest of the game, but every so often a loud sound effect would emit at a much stronger decibel than expected, which would cause a headphone wearing player to be startled even more than I was. The intrusive noises are warnings of impending doom and make sense in the context of the game but for me it was slightly more abrasive than my aging ears prefer. Given that the sounds of the game all meld with the other aspects I’ve discussed the exception is the adorable voicing that I experienced with my purple pig tailed character. Her voice was downright cutesy wootsy every single time she said “goodbye” or “OKAY” when I instructed her to attack an enemy.
Overall
My time with BlockMaster was fun. The game is cute, navigates and controls well, and has a lot of action once you get going. The simplistic graphics and environments will no doubt allow for large battles with players online and a series of various match modes will cater to many play preference. The maps and areas of content are interesting and continue the gameplay even outside of battle. BlockMaster for the PC is a game for friends who like to play with (or against) friends.
