Review: Megaplex Madness - It's Showtime!
October 4, 2010
Overview:
Megaplex Madness - Now Playing by Big Fish Games is a time-management title focused around the movie theater industry. The famous Bowmont Theatre is no longer turning a profit and is a risk of being torn down. You purchase the landmark in hopes of bringing it back to its feet by making repairs, beautifying, expanding and most importantly, satisfying all your customers.
A port of the popular Mac and PC version, Megaplex Madness brings the touch variant to the iPhone.
Features
The game consists of 5 theaters to restore, totalling to 50 levels of gameplay. From Popcorn machines to arcade cabinets, everything is upgradable with the revenue you earn upon completing each level. The game also features 5 retro mini-games which can be used to score some extra cash.
Megaplex Madness is one of the first games to support Apple's Game Center social network. This allows support for Achievements and Leaderboards. There are 5 language packs to choose from including English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.
The Good
The game starts you off in a run down trashy movie theater, complete with cracks in the wall, velvet ropes laying on the ground, and understaffed concession stands. Your management style is crucial in giving the theatre a fighting chance. You must drag the customers to the appropriate areas by reading their thought bubble.
For example, a customer will walk in with a ticket stub pictured in his/her bubble, so you must pick them up and drag them to the ticket booth. Keep a close eye on their bubble, because once that's done, off to the next step. They may need to use the restroom, play a game, or get popcorn; ultimately reaching the final step of entering the movie.
Timing is crucial; their satisfaction is indicated through the number of hearts they display. Starting at 5 hearts, they will gradually decrease if their needs are not met on time. Things really get hectic when the movie starts and the sense of urgency kicks in. This is when you need to be at your best, as it all comes down to making it to the movie on time.
Upon successful completion of a level, you earn money you can invest in repairs, upgrades, and hiring. The customers are color coordinated, so try to put people wearing the same colors in the same line for a bonus. Tokens can be achieved as well, which can be used to play mini games and earn even more cash.
Make sure to keep an eye out on all items desired by customers, if they want something you don't have, you must make sure to purchase it after level completion in order to maintain customer satisfaction.
The Bad:
I had a bit of a hard time connecting the customer the the appropriate destination. I would drag them over to the popcorn machine for example, and no matter how close I got them, they would get sent back to their original location when I let them go. This made controls very frustrating at times where the movie was about to start and I was hustling to clear the stage.
