Release Date: January 13, 1997 (Japan), 30 September 1997 (North America)
Developer: G-Artists
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Available on: Sony Playstation
What You Should Know about Intelligent Qube:
- A Playstation exclusive 3D puzzle game.
- Also known as Kurushi in Japan and Europe
- The objective of the game is to clear coloured blocks on a platform by highlighting grids on the floor to destroy the blocks as they land on the grid.
- If the player fails to clear all the blocks, or gets squished by the blocks, the platform loses a row, meaning the player has less space to maneuver.
The Good:
- Easy to pick up and play: The moment you start the game, you can jump right into it and start clearing levels.
- Informative tutorials: For first time players, the tutorials do a pretty good job of telling you about the mechanics and special blocks.
- Aesthetically minimalistic: No bright colours and intrusive noises to distract you from the game.
- Great challenge: Frenetic pace and responsive controls means that you’re always on your toes, and the snappy controls ensure you’re always aware of your own actions
The Bad:
- Fun only in bursts: The game doesn’t have any sticking power, meaning you’ll probably play 15-30 minutes in one sitting before you get bored.
- Minimal replay value: There’s never enough variety that makes you want to come back to it immediately, the levels are pretty much the same throughout, with the only variety being added mechanics.
- No reward for mastery: Once you finish the game, that’s it. There’s not much else other than possibly speedrunning it, which isn’t to the palate of most players.
- No simultaneous multiplayer: The game does support 2 players, but they’re only allowed to take turns instead of playing at the same time, which kills the competitiveness it could have had.
Verdict: Give it a try! …For a while at least.
It’s fun, but not so much fun that you’d wanna come back to it every chance you get. Personally, I haven’t touched this game myself in nearly a decade, and even after playing it now, I don’t feel like I want to come back for at least a year or so. However, the game itself is rather interesting, and it should hardly come as a suprise that some may call it a cult classic for the Playstation, and it has spawned several copycats over the years.
