If we go back in time, let's say... in 1989, I bet you remember the one puzzle game that was keeping you busy all day long. It was Pipe Mania, a title which sold over 4 million copies, making it one of the most successful puzzle game ever created. This month, Empire Interactive brought us a remake of Pipe Mania, but will it rise to the fame of its predecessor?
Pipe Mania remake comes will lots of features that will give a bonus to gameplay and replayability. For instance, the remake comes with a story, a very basic and simple story introducing the main characters and your objectives. Your name is Alfonso Senior, now retired from the plumbing business. You retired on a paradise island, which is now covered in dust and smoke thanks to cowboy plumbers, one in particular named Buffalo Bonzo.
This island is divided into 7 stages, each stage with its own character. In the Sewers you'll find Ramona the crocodile, in the Factory there's Penwald or LOL 404 in the Internet Café.
Pipe Mania also features new pieces and multiple floozes. For example, in the Factory, pipe pieces form an assembly line where the flood is represented by rolling ducks. At the Railway, pipes look like railway tracks where the flooze is a train. It is obvious that Razorworks and Empire Interactive tried to get as much as they could from just a simple game originally released 19 years ago.
Each stage has 8 levels each unique in its own way. Levels difficulties vary from simple layouts to very complicated ones. In the simplest ones, you just have to direct the flooze from the start point to the end. When indestructible squares or the layout forces you to build in a certain direction things start to get complicated. The pieces that will be available are randomly selected. So if you need a certain piece to finish the level, you'll just have to place the extra pieces around the map, or build over the existing ones which but this will penalize you at the end of the level.
There are also boss battles, at the end of each stage, you must fight against the character that lives in the current location you're plumbing. They have special abilities that will destroy or damage placed pipe pieces forcing you to start all over or lose some time repairing.
If the flooze is miss-redirected or it runs out of the unfinished pipeline, it will leak all over the map. When the flooze meter is full, you lose.
The single player has 4 big game modes. World where you must travel across the Isle of Ducts to restore order from chaos in a series of challenges; Arcade Mode is a survival mode where the grid keeps moving faster and faster; Bonus Games are a series of quick-thinking, fast-action puzzles and Classic if you want to play the original levels and rules of the classic Pipe Mania game.
To play on advanced levels in one of these modes, you must first complete the World mode. If you score lots of points, route the flooze through pre-build pipes and so on, treasures can be earned. In the Treasure Room, you can unlock Arcade or Classic game modes, character profiles, music, concept art and so on.
{pagebreak}
Pipe Mania remake is a good game, with lots of puzzles for fans or newcomers, kids or adults. If you played the original game, I bet you'll want to play this one too, though the extra difficulty and occasionally pressure will push some casual gamers away.
Gameplay: 72
Over 300 levels across 5 unique game modes, new features like attack and damage, new pieces or multiple floozes, plus the classic Pipe Mania levels and arcade levels makes the remake quite a game.
Graphics: 76
Well designed levels build with attention to detail, in a word, a remake that will enjoy visually.
Sound: 80
Beautiful music in the background and the sound effects fits perfectly the game.
Multiplayer: 78
Head-to-head or cooperative multiplayer for two players will make the game even more enjoyable.
Hardware: 79
The game runs smoothly and the loading times are really quick.