Puzzle Reviews

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Pros:

1. It is full of addictive gameplay, and is terrific for what it is. You can choose different versions of play, and they are what make the game fun.

2. Super Breakout keeps you entertained during long road trips and while traveling overseas on an airplane. It it quite impressive.

3. It never stops being fun. No one I know seems to be getting bored of it.

Cons:

1. You can't save your scores. Players would just have to write down their records on paper.

2. The sound is relatively poor. There is no background music or anything.

Overall, I praise Super Breakout for being fun for what it is. I suggest buying it. It's a great game to play whenever you're bored. Highly recommended for players age 6 or over. Still, the game needs more sound development.

The 5-7 age range is probably pretty accurate. My son is 4, and these puzzles are still a little beyond him, but he loves to "help" me put them together by finding pieces for me, talking me through them and placing an occasional piece.

The book really rounds out the deal. At first my son didn't seem to show too much interest in it (he has tons of other Thomas books), and didn't care for me to read it to him for several days after we got it. But after the very first reading, I was surprised to hear him talking about the stories the next day and for days after. He was particularly struck by the character of "Cranky" the crane, and now he refers to all cranes that he sees as "Cranky."

I would highly reccommend it to any Thomas fans!!!!

All the technical detail in the world is just so much eye and ear candy if the gameplay isn't up to par, and MJ2 delivers logical puzzle-style gameplay in spades! As others have mentioned, the puzzles are very well integrated into the game, and while there were a few that I looked at and thought, "It wouldn't be set up like this in reality," most were very carefully placed and believably integrated into the game. The difficulty was just right, I think, with a good variety of puzzles including pattern recognition, alternate number systems, and integrational thinking, along with one or two movement-based puzzles made possible by your ability to move freely in real time (a nice addition, in my opinion).

The voice acting was generally much better than in Schizm (with one notable exception near the end), but the character animation was a bit stilted (most of the characters moved like they had arthritis). The storyline was very engaging and interesting and helped move you along in the game. Also, it was very rare to find yourself in a place wondering, "What do I do/Where do I go now?" Usually, there was some clue in the last cutscene that would suggest a course of action or someplace that you hadn't gone yet that would provide a new area to explore or a puzzle to solve.

The lack of subtitles was more than made up for by the inclusion of a transcript that you could review (without which I'd have had to get a cheat to solve the last puzzle) at any time throughout the game. There were inexplicable gaps in it, but they were not critical. The ending, while not spectacular, was still satisfying (and MUCH better than the one in Schizm!).

Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys good, logical puzzles wrapped up in a gorgeous game. The only caveats I would offer are: 1. make sure your computer exceeds the minimum requirements in most areas (if you can invest in a good video card, DO IT!), and 2. make sure you understand and enjoy working with alternate base numbering systems (e.g. base-2, base-4, etc.).

Here's looking forward to more Mysterious Journeys!