Developer
HotGen Studios Limited

Released: September 19, 2002
Genre: Puzzle
Players: 2
ESRB: Everyone

6
6
6
5
6.2

Supported Features:

Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness takes the basic premise of Tetris and turns it upside-down, or at least inverts it. In Tetris your goal was to create solid lines out of falling shapes to make them disappear and keep your playing field as open and low to the bottom as possible. In Eggstreme Madness your goal is just the opposite. You still have falling shapes but you must now carefully place them to create solid lines to build a tower. Any gaps in your structure create instability that could cause your tower to collapse. Your ultimate goal is to build the safest tower in the shortest time, as you are racing another “Eggite” to the top where a hot air balloon waits to fly you to safety and the next level. Oh, did I mention that there is a constant rising water level that is pursuing you from the bottom.

Eggstreme Madness has these features:

• Turns the classic Tetris gameplay upside-down
• Use the intuitive "Wobble Meter" to analyze the stability of your puzzle tower
• 11 stunning environments including a haunted house, jungle, fairground, prehistoric volcanoes and Arabian Nights
• Over 33 individual enemies and allies mix up the action
• A new bonus scoring system that includes tricks and combos used to unlock hidden characters and game modes
• Use falling power-ups to Bomb and attack your opponent and their tower
• 9 modes of gameplay including an interactive tutorial
• One to two players simultaneously
• Multiplayer tournament option offers gameplay for up to 8 players

The premise is as simple as Tetris. Randomly shaped blocks fall from the sky. You control a little Eggite who runs around and catches these pieces. You can then move him around to position them exactly where you want. The trick here lies in the fact that you can conceivably create a wall high enough in the middle of the playing field that you cannot jump. This means you have to build steps to get over that wall to catch some of the pieces and even out the structure.

Just like in Tetris your goal is to create solid lines but now it’s for an entirely different reason. Instead of solid lines vanishing they lock in to create a stable foundation for your tower. Gaps in the structure create unstable elements and your “wobble meter” indicates just how precarious your position is at any given time. The more gaps and the lower they occur in the foundation, the more likely your entire tower will come crashing down around you.

Your goal is to reach your buddy who is waiting for you in the hot air balloon high above. The height of this balloon is based on the difficulty and current level you are playing. Naturally, the higher he floats the more tower you have to build to reach him. To keep you motivated the designers have also created a flood situation with a constantly rising water level. While the floodwaters generally rise much slower than you are building, one good tower collapse can put you dangerously close to the waterline.

But you aren’t just racing natural disasters. There is another Eggite on the other half of the screen who is racing you to his own buddy in his own balloon. Even if you are playing the single player game you are still racing against a computer opponent and these guys are good. In an ingenious bit of game design both Eggites can engage in a bit of combat and sabotage while they build their towers. Random objects such as bombs, hammers, and other power-ups will fall from the sky. You can toss these into the other player’s playfield and blow-up chunks of their tower or even attack the other Eggite with lightning. Even more fun is that your opponent can pick up and throw bombs right back at you if they are fast enough.

There are also power-ups that help the lucky Egg who manages to pick them up. Boots give you better jumping ability and more speed while the Filler (trowel) can fill in up to six gaps below you. This is a great power-up for an unstable tower.

Eggstreme Madness offers several game modes including Solo, Tournament, and Bomb. You can also choose your skill level ranging from “Over Easy” to “Hard Boiled”. The only problem here lies in the fact that you are going from one extreme (or should I say eggstreme) to the other. The easy mode can be finished in about 20-30 minutes and the hard mode will probably scare off all but the most fanatical puzzle players.

There are nearly a dozen imaginative environments that include wonderful painted backgrounds and unique block graphics to go with the theme of the level. The special effects such as the lightning zap or the explosions from the bombs or crumbling effect of the hammer smash are all excellent.

Admittedly, the overall visual presentation is nothing that will shock or amaze you. It certainly doesn’t begin to tax the power locked within the GameCube, but then again, this is a puzzle game and when you stack it up against it’s peers you will find it is one of the more visually pleasing puzzle games you can play on any system.

There is a modest library of sound effects including the zap of lighting, the “thunk” of a shape slamming into place, the splash as your Eggite falls into the water, and many more. Nothing really stood out but nothing was missing either.

Personally, I had my fill of Egg Mania after about two hours, and while there is some inherent value left in the multiplayer modes, most of the people I play with and against would rather play one of the many other multiplayer games I have for the GameCube.

Of course that’s just me and your kids may love this game to death. Just keep in mind that the gameplay is repetitive and even though a dozen levels may sound like a lot you will start seeing the same thing over and over and hearing the same music and sounds over and over all too quickly. I’d highly recommend you rent this game first, and if you aren’t sick of it by the end of the rental period then go buy it.

Like any other puzzle game, your gameplay is limited by the game design itself and it’s all too easy to get bored with solving the same puzzles over and over no matter how cute the characters and how colorful the environments. Played in small doses, you will have a great time, and while four-player support would have made it a great party game, the two-player mode will only let you beat-up on one sibling at a time. Give it a try, but rent before you buy.