Irides: Master of Blocks
Encyclopedia
Irides: Master of Blocks is an Independent developed
commercially released videogame developed by Madpeet and the first game by GOAT Store Publishing in 3 years. It is a puzzle game
for the Sega Dreamcast
and iPhone
that combines strategy and action, an easy to pick up and play and hard to master type of puzzler. The game's release date was announced alongside Rush Rush Rally Racing
in order to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the American Dreamcast.
clone for Dreamcast called BlockSmash.
In 2006, at the Midwest Gaming Classic
GOAT Store Publishing announced 12 games for Dreamcast, as part of there 06/07 line up. One of the announced games was a commercial sequel to BlockSmash titled Blocks2 (2 is read as an exponent; pronounced Blocks Squared). The same year the original BlockSmash was released on Sandman Demo Disk Volume 1
On June 27, 2009 Blocks2 was released for the iPhone
It was revealed on 9 September 2009 on the American Dreamcast's 10th anniversary, that the game would be making its way on the Dreamcast, under the new name Irides: Master of blocks. The name was changed in order to make it sound more attractive to the buyers on Apple's App store. The new name is intended to be a short form of Iridescence
, a 'play of lustrous, changing colors', resembling the importance of differently colored squares
Irides didn't make the projected 06/07 release date, however it is the only project GSP announced at MGC that was completed. When asked why it took four years to complete the development of the game Loosen said:
, Lumines
, Tetris
. Irides is a puzzle action game with some clever twists around conventional ideas. A 2 x 2 square (an O tetromino
) made of four smaller block pieces is dropped into the playing field, which may appear different as the player advances through levels or skins
. The small blocks that comprise the larger blocks will be one of two different colors. The objective is to rotate and align the blocks in such a way as to create 2x2 squares of the same color, which may span multiple blocks and, indeed, share blocks. For example, if one should get a 2x3 area of matching blocks, the middle portion will "share" itself with both the left and right halves and create two 2x2 squares. When too many unmatched blocks pile up to the point where no more blocks may be dropped in the playing field, the game ends.
When part of a falling block hits an obstruction, the unobstructed portion of the block will split off and continue to fall. More points are scored by creating the largest number of squares during one "timeline" sweep. Increasing score multipliers are earned by repeatedly clearing squares on consecutive timeline sweeps. Bonuses are also awarded by reducing all remaining tiles to one single color or for removing all non-active tiles from the screen altogether.
.
The game was prominently promoted at Midwest Gaming Classic
show an event organized by the publisher.
Those who preordered the game for Dreamcast, received the iPhone version free.
A limited edition of Irides was also released with only 144 units pressed, The Limited Edition contained different disc and packaging art, an expanded instruction manual, an exclusive numbered mini-poster signed by the designer, and an exclusive numbered 2 inches (50.8 mm) collector's coin. The limited edition was available exclusively at the Publisher's website.
As per GOAT Store Publishing Non Disclosure policy, sales figures of any game are never released.
As an independent Dreamcast game Irides has received overwhelmingly positive reviews.
BeefJack gave the game an 8 out of 10 finding the Puzzle system deep, tactically complex and very rewarding. Diehard GameFan gave an overall positive review specifically enjoy the game's music and found it better in contrast to luminies, however they found the graphics a bit of a let down. Pinconeattack also echoed previous revious praising the complexity of the puzzle system and enjoying the synth based music however they expressed concerns about the games high price. SegaShiro praised the game for its easy-to-pick-up-and-play and hard-to-master gameplay, they also praised the game's soundtrack that can be played on a CD player from the gamedisk, although they were disappointed that the game had no Analog Stick support and found strange that a developer would add VMU
and Rumble Pak
support and not the Analog stick, although they called the lack of Analog stick support as minor setbacks. VGEvo praised the game for its multiplayer options and denounced the public perception of the game being a lumines clone, as the power ups and combo system sets the game apart, they were however disappointed that the game lacked the option to play against the computer.
Independent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
commercially released videogame developed by Madpeet and the first game by GOAT Store Publishing in 3 years. It is a puzzle game
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
for the Sega Dreamcast
Sega Dreamcast
The is a 128-bit video game console which was released by Sega in late 1998 in Japan and from September 1999 in other territories. It was the first entry in the sixth generation of video game consoles, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube.Dreamcast sales were...
and iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
that combines strategy and action, an easy to pick up and play and hard to master type of puzzler. The game's release date was announced alongside Rush Rush Rally Racing
Rush Rush Rally Racing
Rush Rush Rally Racing also known as R4 is an Independent developed commercially released videogame developed by Senile Team and published by RedSpotGames in November 2009...
in order to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the American Dreamcast.
Development
In 2005, Florian Zitzelsberger (founder of Mad Peet) made a homebrew LuminesLumines
is a puzzle video game based on sound and light patterns. Created by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his company, Q Entertainment, it was first released as a launch title for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12, and released in North America on March 23 and released in Europe on...
clone for Dreamcast called BlockSmash.
In 2006, at the Midwest Gaming Classic
Midwest Gaming Classic
The Midwest Gaming Classic is an annual convention for all forms of electronic entertainment, including video games, arcade games , computers, and more...
GOAT Store Publishing announced 12 games for Dreamcast, as part of there 06/07 line up. One of the announced games was a commercial sequel to BlockSmash titled Blocks2 (2 is read as an exponent; pronounced Blocks Squared). The same year the original BlockSmash was released on Sandman Demo Disk Volume 1
On June 27, 2009 Blocks2 was released for the iPhone
It was revealed on 9 September 2009 on the American Dreamcast's 10th anniversary, that the game would be making its way on the Dreamcast, under the new name Irides: Master of blocks. The name was changed in order to make it sound more attractive to the buyers on Apple's App store. The new name is intended to be a short form of Iridescence
Iridescence
Iridescence is generally known as the property of certain surfaces which appear to change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes...
, a 'play of lustrous, changing colors', resembling the importance of differently colored squares
Irides didn't make the projected 06/07 release date, however it is the only project GSP announced at MGC that was completed. When asked why it took four years to complete the development of the game Loosen said:
Gameplay
Based around the concept of falling blocks, much like the ColumnsColumns (video game)
is a puzzle video game, first created in 1989 by Jay Geertsen. Early versions of the game were made and ported among early computer platforms, and then the Atari ST, until 1990, when Jay Geertsen sold the rights to Sega, where it was ported to several Sega consoles.-Description:The game takes...
, Lumines
Lumines
is a puzzle video game based on sound and light patterns. Created by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his company, Q Entertainment, it was first released as a launch title for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12, and released in North America on March 23 and released in Europe on...
, Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
. Irides is a puzzle action game with some clever twists around conventional ideas. A 2 x 2 square (an O tetromino
Tetromino
A tetromino is a geometric shape composed of four squares, connected orthogonally. This, like dominoes and pentominoes, is a particular type of polyomino...
) made of four smaller block pieces is dropped into the playing field, which may appear different as the player advances through levels or skins
Skin (computing)
In computing, a skin is a custom graphical appearance achieved by the use of a graphical user interface that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users....
. The small blocks that comprise the larger blocks will be one of two different colors. The objective is to rotate and align the blocks in such a way as to create 2x2 squares of the same color, which may span multiple blocks and, indeed, share blocks. For example, if one should get a 2x3 area of matching blocks, the middle portion will "share" itself with both the left and right halves and create two 2x2 squares. When too many unmatched blocks pile up to the point where no more blocks may be dropped in the playing field, the game ends.
When part of a falling block hits an obstruction, the unobstructed portion of the block will split off and continue to fall. More points are scored by creating the largest number of squares during one "timeline" sweep. Increasing score multipliers are earned by repeatedly clearing squares on consecutive timeline sweeps. Bonuses are also awarded by reducing all remaining tiles to one single color or for removing all non-active tiles from the screen altogether.
Power Ups
Occasionally, a block falls with a special square of one of the two colors with a "jewel" in the center. This square, when cleared as part of a matched 2x2 square, will cause all individual blocks of the same color that are horizontally or vertically adjacent to the matched 2x2 square, or to an adjacent square, to be cleared without score. These can be used for both generating large bonuses, since generally several blocks of the other color will be formed once these are removed, as well as to help the player recover if the field becomes too cluttered. 20 original Power Ups are featured in the game.Combos
Instead of being confined to a "time line" a combo bar appears in the game instead, the bigger the combo the faster the bar fills up and this positively correlates with the score as well.Features
- Single-player Campaign mode with four difficulty levels
- Co-Op Campaign mode to play with a friend
- Multi-player versus modes to face off against up to four players
- "Endless" mode: allowing players to challenge your friends and compete for the highest score
- More than 30 levels including unlockable bonus levels
- Over 15 music tracks
- Region free title, supports NTSC, PAL and VGA displays
- Supports all licensed Dreamcast controllers
- Supports rumble pack accessories
- Worldwide online high score tracking
- Standard and Limited Edition versions release same day
- Two different control schemes (Gestures / On Screen Buttons) for the iPhone.
Sales
This is the first game released by GOAT Store not distributed by Lik-Sang as the online retailer ceased their operations in October 2006. Irides was also the first release from GOAT Store in over 3 years, and the game was distributed through various online retailers such as Play-AsiaPlay-Asia
Play-Asia is an online retailer for entertainment products from Asia. The website sells import games, DVDs, music, CDs, gadgets, groceries, books, gaming console accessories, cables and toys...
.
The game was prominently promoted at Midwest Gaming Classic
Midwest Gaming Classic
The Midwest Gaming Classic is an annual convention for all forms of electronic entertainment, including video games, arcade games , computers, and more...
show an event organized by the publisher.
Those who preordered the game for Dreamcast, received the iPhone version free.
A limited edition of Irides was also released with only 144 units pressed, The Limited Edition contained different disc and packaging art, an expanded instruction manual, an exclusive numbered mini-poster signed by the designer, and an exclusive numbered 2 inches (50.8 mm) collector's coin. The limited edition was available exclusively at the Publisher's website.
As per GOAT Store Publishing Non Disclosure policy, sales figures of any game are never released.
iPhone version
The general reception for the iPhone release has been positive, slidetoplay.com gave them 3 out of 4, praising the low price point, and the hours of fun the game had to offer.Dreamcast version
BeefJack gave the game an 8 out of 10 finding the Puzzle system deep, tactically complex and very rewarding. Diehard GameFan gave an overall positive review specifically enjoy the game's music and found it better in contrast to luminies, however they found the graphics a bit of a let down. Pinconeattack also echoed previous revious praising the complexity of the puzzle system and enjoying the synth based music however they expressed concerns about the games high price. SegaShiro praised the game for its easy-to-pick-up-and-play and hard-to-master gameplay, they also praised the game's soundtrack that can be played on a CD player from the gamedisk, although they were disappointed that the game had no Analog Stick support and found strange that a developer would add VMU
VMU
The VMU, or Visual Memory Unit is a memory card peripheral for the Dreamcast. Its official name was changed by Sega for each of the three key regions:-* Japan = Visual Memory System * North America = Visual Memory Unit...
and Rumble Pak
Rumble Pak
The is a removable device from Nintendo which provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player in the game. Versions of the Rumble Pak are available...
support and not the Analog stick, although they called the lack of Analog stick support as minor setbacks. VGEvo praised the game for its multiplayer options and denounced the public perception of the game being a lumines clone, as the power ups and combo system sets the game apart, they were however disappointed that the game lacked the option to play against the computer.
Soundtrack
The game contains 15 tracks, as with all GOAT store games since 2005; the sound track of the game can be played from the game disk itself in any audio CD player (the first track contains game data, whereas the remaining tracks have the background game music).See also
- LuminesLuminesis a puzzle video game based on sound and light patterns. Created by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his company, Q Entertainment, it was first released as a launch title for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12, and released in North America on March 23 and released in Europe on...
- Wind & Water: Puzzle Battles
- List of Independently Released Commercial Games For Dreamcast
- Independent video game developmentIndependent video game developmentIndependent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...