| Ever since Tetris consumed peoples' lives and became a nationwide obsession, game designers have been attempting to create the next great puzzle game. Many have tried and failed, but Intelligent Qube for the Sony PlayStation appears to be the heir apparent to the Tetris legacy. Intelligent Qube is a wild, fast paced disc in which you attempt to capture advantage blocks before they squash you. You play as a tiny guy staring some very large crates in the face, and survival requires that you bomb certain blocks while capturing others to improve your Intelligent Qube score. Tension runs high as you try to complete all these tasks before you reach the edge of the raised platform your character calls home. As you lose blocks over the edge, the platform become shorter and shorter. Run out of platform, and it's game over. Hampering all this is a series of imperfect camera angles which can make it hard for you to spot exactly where the bombs need to be placed. Other than that, however, the graphics are tremendous, the control is amazing, and the challenge is intense. The palm-sweating excitement is enhanced by a pulsating, unnerving audiotrack and a set of piercing voiceovers that pound in your head like a bass drum. The concept is simple enough — you bomb some blocks to capture others, with the ultimate goal of raising your Intelligent Qube score and living to see the light of another day. Control, as in any puzzle game worth its salt, is the true strong point of Intelligent Qube. Using the D-pad to navigate the platform, you press X to place a bomb and to detonate it once the blocks are in position, and the triangle key to capture the series of blocks affected by the explosion. The more smart cubes you gain, the better your Intelligent Qube score once the game ends. Best of all, stage after stage and level after level will ensure that you'll be sweating this game out for months. Addictive is what Sony was striving for, and that's exactly what they got. Intelligent Qube uses a fantastic combination of visuals, sound bites, and easy control to create the puzzle game fans have been waiting years for. There's no two ways about it — BUY THIS GAME!
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