Written By: Daniel Scott

Yep. It’s another match 3 game but what makes this one stand out?

Sliders Match 3 ($1.99)

This a clean looking game, good color usage, nice user interface.  No doubt about it, the game looks great.  Although I will criticize the the use of the typical font selection of Impact (logo) and Helvetica along with the shiny Web 2.0 graphics. I still feel this game was well thought about.  Given the basic directions and easy controls.  It’s actually a well built game despite my biased opinion.  Easy controls to turn the effects off and/or the music.  Everything is visible and simple to control while playing the game.   If purchased, it’s a good investment regardless.  However, I am more concerned with this game’s ability to match up to the competition.

My Take

Although it is nice to interact with the touch controls, it still needs some more interaction within the game.  For instance, one of my favorite SNES games is Tetris Attack (there’s a Japanese version named something but don’t recall off-hand), and it’s all dressed up in Super Mario World characters, for the sake of justifying the game being brought over to the states I’m thinking.  It’s SUPER fun wrapped in a match 3 title with some extra features like an AI or human versus (which is tough and very hard to beat in the later rounds).  It’s a good start but there’s a good amount of room to grow.

Game Play

Typical match 3 format, Sliders gets it’s name from the controls via touch and swipe the direction desired. The tiles then slide one or more paces in a north, south, east or west direction to make your match.   Three modes to work with: time limit, a set amount of steps and free play.   The first being the traditional type… working against the clock and attaining the best score.  Time gets added with a bigger match than four and/or a chain of matches causes by the first match.  The screen is a set size and so it’s easy to think your moves through to get the best out of each turn.  The second mode starts you out with 50 steps and you work towards zero steps, gaining steps with a higher combo just like the first mode.  There is a set amount of match shapes for extra points. Generally, your focus is on the clock or ways to regain your steps to prolong the game. The freeplay mode is is just there with nothing pushing you to get better. Or as it says in the app: Practice your Stuff!

The Cons

It feels as if I spelled out the cons throughout this review.  But I do have an issue with the online high score submission.  As I usually go to the website to check my notes, I saw that there is a possibility to submit via taking a screenshot and emailing it over. The problem with this is, folks can cheat and photoshop a higher score. I know I can!  I would recommend a submission option within the game to keep it as fair as possible (then you get into those who can and will open up the app and manually drop in the fake scores, and no I don’t know how to do that).

The sound isn’t that better either. I’m not asking for a known artist, but I would think about finding something a little softer.   I am happy to see the on/off switch for the background music, it needs a better soundtrack.  Also if there are those who like the music, add a way to control the volume.

In a future update, add some missions to deepen the game past the two modes. Possibly a formula to show some stats on the matching like Tetris does (or did on the NES, the Nintendo version)

Throw in a Lite Version, it’s been proven to help boost sales, but entice the end user with additional features in the paid app.

Conclusion

Again, it feels premature but I am in no way able to make my own games so I applaud the time taken to make this happen. It’s a great start, and I hope the developers will add some more content to their game.  It’s somethine I’d want to see improved and I trust the devs. If you’re in for different, why not take a plunge with Sliders?