Red White Yellow
Takahiro Miyazawa of SKT Products in Japan has created a brand new Flash action puzzler that offers a unique twist to the new generation of falling block games popularized by Q Entertainment's Lumines.
In Red White Yellow, the objective is to create groups of the same color in quantities of 6 or more by dropping the falling blocks into place. However, like its name suggests, Red White Yellow is also the order in which you must clear groups from play. If you create a group of the wrong color, the blocks will become shaded and will remain that way until you clear a group from the other color(s) first.
To help you keep track of what color you need to clear next, a small indicator at the top of the display will show the current color. The outline of the entire play field will change to the target color as well.
Control is customizable in the game. You may use the keyboard, the mouse, or a combination of both. I found it most intuitive to use the mouse to move the blocks left or right, the mouse button to rotate, and to press [space] to drop a block into place. Alternately, the arrow keys may be used instead, using [space] or [down] to drop. Use the options menu to further customize the controls to your liking.
Once you get going you will find that the game rewards you for combos, which are achieved by consecutively removing multiple sets from play, in order. There is a small pause once you clear a color before the next color gets activated, and while a short sound clip plays in reward of your accomplishment. Taking advantage of these short pauses allows you to rack up the combos quite nicely. You'll get a feel for doing this once you've played a game or two. The more familiar you get with the gameplay the more likely you will be able to get 'in the zone' with this title. It's really quite addictive.
One of the most engaging aspects of playing Lumines is that the background soundtrack is heavily influenced by the action of the game play. Red White Yellow offers a similar aural experience, and features, at present, 2 different 'sound packs' to choose from at the beginning of play. While it's not quite as seamless nor of the same depth and variety as Lumines, the sound implementation in the game is exceptional and I'm looking forward to even more sound packs to be added.
A very pleasant surprise find today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Hmm, not bad, but I walked away from it wanting something. It's too easy. After what feels like ages of playing, I'm on level 18, and only now is it starting to get difficult, and that's simply a function of fast-moving pieces.
Anyone who's played plain, ordinary Tetris knows that the game takes a fair bit of planning, or you'll bury yourself. That challenge is with you from the first block that falls. And that's where RWY is lacking. With the amount of space, the free-form elimination, and the individually-falling blocks, you could do decently playing half of the pieces at random.
This lack of challenge left me feeling like I could get whatever score I wanted, as long as I stuck around long enough. It made combos seem... pointless. Which is a shame, because the combo system was good.
I'm not a fan of the sound effects. They were too integrated to feel like success noises, but too jarring to blend in and become part of the ambiance. It was just distracting.
Overall, it just feels like it needs work. It's nice, but not quite there yet.
I enjoyed this game a lot, even if it were just to listen to the music. I loved the way the music tied in to the combo system as well, and I felt disappointed whenever the combo stopped.
To easily get a long combo, I just put pieces down more or less at random. Amazingly enough, I could get 18 and 19 long combos with this method!
I do wonder, though, what Ama-ji-o means.
There seems to be a bug... when I click on "HowToPlay" a number of screens flash by very quickly (they seem to have instructions on them, but there's no way to slow them down or go through them one at a time), and the start screen reappears. That wouldn't be the end of the world, but the exact same thing happens when I press "Start" to try to play the game.
I enjoyed this game, but agree with FunnyMan. Groups I hadn't purposely built unexpectedly disappeared many times, and it wasn't very challenging until the blocks fell so fast I could barely mash enough buttons to get them in place.
I made it to level 26.
Chrysanthemum - try selecting the option again. The first time I played it did the same thing to me, but on subsequent tries it worked ok. But you're right, it's probably a bug.
FunnyMan, Lee - like Lumines, I don't approach this game the same way as I play Tetris. I believe the enjoyment from a game of this type comes from clearing lots and lots of combos, and not necessarily placing every block carefully. In fact, while playing Lumines, the more 'in the zone' I get with it the faster I play and the higher my scores. I believe that's what the developer had in mind for this game as evidenced by the "How to play" tutorial movie.
Jay - good point. It was quite fun. I think I might try Lumines also.
Level 40 by keeping a steady stack. Combo'ed the whole thing until I died.
Does anyone know how to save the music? It's fantastic!
Overall easy game, but fun.
wow, i love puzzle games and I love music games, and I think this is a great achievement. I kept playing just to hear the sound progressions, what is the music going to do next. so i hope you are right jay. I hope they add plenty of sound addons, maybe even release an updated version with added environements, and, uh, other distractions... never mind, i gues they should stick with what plays well. So hey, if SKT checks out these forums, ADD MORE MUSIC!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!
is there any reason why it's taking so long to load up the individual levels, or is it just me?
very nicely done game. the music and graphics really made this a truly appealing game. they put in a nice job on the themed levels (flowers, birds, railroads... kendo?!). it's a shame that was as far as i made it, i would love to see more!
the red-white-yellow order made for some interesting gameplay. at times, i found myself with these gigantic piles of white and yellow tiles... but in need of a red set. scrambling to clear a specific color made the action a lot more fun, although at times, i felt like the gameplay might have relied a bit too heavily on the luck of what bricks came up. (ie, the yellow-white streak.)
one definite gripe i could file is the multiple controls deal. it's nice that the game is playable with keyboard or mouse, but having both available at the same time is a bit tedious. when i started playing the first time, i had a heck of a time getting the browser to focus on the game (with the mouse) while still using the keyboard for gameplay (my preference). even bumping the mouse sent the piece to one side or the other. i wouldn't mind having an option to choose EITHER the mouse or keyboard, but not automatically both.
otherwise, a fantastic game and worth a look if you're after something other than "the usual falling block game."
If there is a CD for the soundtrack, I will buy it right away.
New sound pack (Vol. 3) coming July 15th!
By the way, sound packs 1, 2, 3 and 4 contain music created by the game author himself.
Wow.
That IS addicting. I really think the only thing it has in common with Tetris is the concept of falling objects. It actually reminds me a bit more of Dr. Mario, where you have to pre-arrange certain colors to fall onto the same color, but only after one or more other combinations are completed, setting up chain reactions. Granted, I can really only do that well near the very beginning of the game since the pace is much slower, or when the pace is faster, if I've cleared down to the bottom of the playing field and have enough time to plan before it hits the bottom.
I just finished at level 72 with a score of 71680.
Though I entered my name into the rankings, it doesn't seem to save it. There's a "Rankings" screen, but it doesn't have scores on it. Just a message in mixed Japanese text. I can sort of identify alphabets, but I can't read a word of it.
I suppose if the sound packs were downloadable, it would take the need out of doing well in the game. It's sort of like a reward system. I like it.
Great game. Deceptively simple, but fun nonetheless.
34,950.
This game is brilliant... I have played Lumines for years (PSP), and this is very similar. I wish it were a little slower... I would love it if it lasted longer.
I am very pleased to see this game receive more accolades, it really deserves it. :D
Ok nevermind, I found the ranking page.
http://www.skt-products.com/cgi-bin/score.cgi?code2=rwy
My level 72 with a score of 71k doesn't really stack up to the scores up there, considering the highest score there is well over 2 million. My highest combo was 11, and the highest combo on that board is 112: 10 times my best.
Somehow the original post in this review about getting to level 18 doesn't seem very impressive...
I think my favorite sound was the girls saying the colors in japanese as I cleared them aka - shiro - kiiro...
I did like this game, and it's potential for combos, but it didn't seem like you could build up a huge combo like, for instance, Puzzle fighter. I did like the music..I think my favorite sound was the girls saying the colors in japanese as I cleared them "aka - shiro - kiiro"...
Level 109, 108970 points. How? I have no idea at all. And yet it still doesn't stand up to any of those crazy highscores.
Kinda irritating the way the music won't start for 5 minutes after you start playing...
The reason there is no music for several minutes when you first start playing is the music file(s) must be downloaded first, they are not streamed due to the dynamic nature of the sound implementation.
Therefore, after loading the game and selecting a sound pack, if you let the game sit for a couple of minutes then reload or replay the game again, the music will be there immediately.
The author should have implemented a preloader for the music before the game begins.
i love this game, i lose control of what im doing at level 20 or so. haha.
its great, the music and sound is amazing, and graphics and gameplay are both amazing and perfect for this style.
the only thing i find the least annoying is the click at the bottom, because i use the mouse to move and space, and so when my mouse is simply in the bottom part, it will drop when i mean to rotate it.
again, i love this game.
Seriously, if anyone knows where to find this music, post it! I would love to add this to my collection.
Yeah, please let me know what the music is called :]
There are now 3 tracks to choose from.
WOW! You are on the ball! Harukarino!
I've got to play this again, LOVING IT! :D
I'm addicted to this game. Love the music...
Just finished a round a while ago, got to level 113, with max combo 20 and score 112500. Couldn't believe my eyes...
muahahaha i manage to make it all the way to lvl 33. then i died T^T
Just felt like playing again, and thrashed my previous record completely. Got to level 173 somehow...
Love the song with the sound of a train in the background...
I love music in games! =D the first three themes of pack1 are the best in my opinion. i guess new age works with the mood of the game.
@Sarah and Delzoup: Sorry to do this, but they're actually saying "Ata--shino--ki-ino" which is Japanese for red white yellow, respectively.
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