NESpresso: Game Reviews \ PC \ Rocket Mania Deluxe

Game Stats
System: PC
Genre: Puzzle / Action
Players: 1
Memory used: approx. 49 MB's (w/ installer)
Playtime: 00:02 / --:--
ESRB Rating: Everybody (6+)

Screenshots

Pop Cap head to the Orient for another hit game! Where you try to launch as many fireworks as you can.

As you may know, the chinese were the first people to make and use gun powder as well as the first people to make fireworks. In Rocket Mania!, you try to complete the path of the fuses between the matches (on the left) and the rockets (on the right) to launch them.

The graphics aren't totally fancy, but they highly functional here. As you can see in the screenshot, any fuse pieces that connect to a match is highlighted in yellow and fuse pieces highlighted in red are connected a rocket. Any fuse pieces that aren't connected to anything just stays white.

The sound in the game are oriental geared. The music is traditional to medevel china. Sound effects are pretty common as you hear fuse pieces being rotated, completed, burned & a rocket launching. If the sounds of the game get annoying to you, it's understandable if you want to turn them down in the game & throw on some of your MP3's.

The controls of the game are real simple as you'll only need the mouse to play the game. Left-click to rotate the fuses clockwise & right-click to rotate the fuses counter-clockwise. In arcade mode, you can hold down on a mouse button & drag the fuse piece across the playfield. The gameplay in all three modes is the same: launch as many rockets as you can within the game's restrictions.

In classic mode, you have a limited ammount of time (as displayed with the lanterns at the top of the playfield) to launch a set ammount of rockets. In arcade mode, the fuse pieces drop from the top of the screen as you try to launch as many rockets before a column of fuse pieces reach the top. In strategy mode, you have a limited number of matches to launch the rockets, but you can take your time.

Rocket Mania! is a simple & repetitive game of making the paths. The more rockets you launch at one time, the more points your score. However, you'll want to try the online version of the game (with only has classic mode) before you consider spending the $20 for the game. For some, this is a blast while it may fizzle out with others.