Review: Luxor
by Staff Writer
August 26, 2009
Overview
The super popular marble shooter Luxor is finally ported to the iPhone. Luxor has been seemingly on every gaming platform ever, and now the iPhone gets to see what all the fuss is about. Luxor has an Egyptian theme packed into every detail across 88 levels.
A marble shooter is deluxe match three with chains of marbles traveling along fixed paths. The chains are moving to an endpoint, and your goal is to destroy the chain before it gets there. In Luxor you have a shooter at the bottom of the screen.
Luxor includes the typical power-ups lightning, fireball, reverse, stop, etc. Every level has a certain number of chains that is indicated in the menu bar. When you complete a level a scarab races across screen to the point the final chain was destroyed giving you bonus along the way.
For the best score you try for combinations. They’re achieved by matching one color, and when it’s removed as the chain collapses together another match occurs. Once you destroy a chain a gem pops out that you try to catch with your winged launcher for bonus points.
Features
The classic Luxor gameplay is retained, but brand new levels are made for the iPhone. There are a whopping 88 levels as you trek across Egypt. Included in Luxor are 25 achievements known as feats. The feats include five combos with one shot, a whole stage without using a power-up, and collecting 1000 gems. The main feature of Luxor is the incorporation of Ngmoco’s Plus+ network. All of your friends from other plus+ titles are here, and you can compare your feats. Also there are online high scores. Ngmoco’s push challenges aren’t included, but you can post challenges on twitter and facebook. Three control methods are included to find the right one for you. The first method is to drag your finger to move the shooter, a separate tap to fire, and swipe to switch marbles. The next method also uses finger movement, but when you release it fires, and shake to switch. Finally there is tilt to move the paddle, then tap to fire, and tap with two fingers to switch.
The Good
This game is absolutely beautiful highlighted by the egyptian theme. The polish is brilliant, and everything is smoothly detailed and animated. Across the 88 levels there are numerous backgrounds, but not 88 unique ones. Each background is spectacularly detailed and intertwined with the Egyptian theme. The animations are top notch with the things bursting out of the chains like the upgrades and jewels. Everything in the game has a subtle glow and sparkle to it. Then there is the multicolored onscreen writing that is eloquent, and not overbearing. There is a wonderfully sounding Egyptian soundtrack. There seems to be only one song that is quite long, but you can notice that it’s the same one. The sound effects aren’t overdone, and are just there adding to the experience. The three control options take a little bit to get used to, and swipe and shake to swap ball are a little awkward.
The gameplay is Luxor's best version yet. The iPhone version has the chains set up well for some huge combos, but the timing has to be just right as the paths are set up to prevent some shots.
The scale is a bit smaller than stoneloops which makes it easier, allowing more maneuverability, and more chains at once. The gameplay is addictive, and casual enough to appeal to non marble shooter fans (even if you didn't like previous Luxor versions). This game will last a long time with 88 levels, 25 achievements, and online high scores.
Also included is an outstanding save system that picks up at the exact point you left off, even when a ball is in the middle of a shot. There are also three different save files.
