Atari's response to the
Tetris mania in the early
90s. Originally a
coin-op, afterwards released on just about every
computer and
console available at that time, from
Amiga to
Nintendo's GameBoy.
In Klax
multicolored blocks are
rolling down on a "
conveyor belt". You must
grab the blocks and
arrange them on a 5x5 playfield, putting three (or more) of the same colour in a
row. This is called a
Klax.
Once you get a Klax it will
disappear, creating much-needed
space on the playfield.
Horizontal and
diagonal Klaxes are worth more
points, as well as multi-Klax
combos. Naturally, you can't miss grabbing hold of more than 3-5 blocks, or it's
game over time.
The
device you're controlling allows you to hold multiple blocks at the same time and throw a block back to the
belt for a while.
At least for me, the best part of the
game are the
different goals in each
level,
for example 5 diagonals or
25000 points. This makes Klax much less
monotonic and
repetitive than it could be.
The
graphics are
bright and
flashy, pretty usual coin-op
stuff. There are some hilarious
sound effects which set a nice
mood for the game. I would
recommend getting the original arcade version instead of a computer/console
clone, although many of them are pretty
similar.
Klax can be an incredibly
frustrating game. Since it was originally an
arcade machine, it's designed to be really
hard in order to get as much
money as possible from the
players. You need to complete the
objectives quickly or the
constant stream of falling blocks becomes too
fast to
handle. Luckily, when
emulating the coin-op you can just keep inserting
virtual cash for
retries.
The tips shown before each level can be quite dubious.
My personal favorite: Play Klax every day!