3tris: The Color Brick Saga (Android) Review

One thing that both Tetris and games like Candy Crush have in common is their tight controls. Once something is done, it cannot be undone, so it's vital that the player's inputs are properly represented on the screen. 3tris takes a novel approach to control (and that is perhaps being generous). Featured on the screen are a virtual d-pad and a rotate button to press. It feels like something from the early days of the original DS, where developers were still pondering the best way to integrate touch screen controls. Pressing left on the d-pad will move the falling block left, but miss the virtual d-pad even slightly and nothing will happen. What this means is that one eye must be kept on the controls at all times, to ensure that fingers are where they are needed. For a game that lives and dies by its controls, this is a really poor solution.

These controls have more flaws, too. Whilst the buttons take up a significant part of the screen, they are also far too small. All in all, this means that checking buttons are actually being pressed when they should be is an integral part of the 3tris, when it really shouldn't be. Finally, the d-pad features an up and down button, which both do… absolutely nothing. It's as if the developer concluded that people had no familiarity with touch screens, and wouldn't understand concepts such as swiping or other workable solutions. Perhaps this would have been true 10 years ago, but these days, mobile gamers will probably be more familiar with using a touch screen than a d-pad.

Other than the flawed controls, the gameplay is solid, if unspectacular. Matching up squares of the same colour is hardly original, and there's nothing much to distinguish it from other titles other than pretending to be Tetris, which doesn't really add anything. The music is repetitive, but it doesn't grate given that this is designed to be played in relatively short bursts. It features levels that steadily increase in difficulty, but each level sticks to a basic formula.