511Amber ZHow can you explain the game of Qix to someone that has never seen it before? It was never a huge arcade hit to make it instantly recognizable and the game play was so unique that there wasn’t much that could be done to warrant countless sequels. One thing’s for sure, I was one of those completely taken over by its addictiveness the first time around and now that it’s available for mobile handsets, I couldn’t wait to download it.
One of the simplest games to understand, all you have to do is draw a line from one point to another, using a cursor, on a blank playing field. The cursor can move up, down, left or right at anytime so as to create connected squares or other shapes to fill in the blank field. Once you’ve filled in 75% of the field, you’ll move on to the next level where you attempt to do the same again. The big “HOWEVER” here is that the playing field is not entirely empty.
Within the field resides the Qix. It’s a randomly moving object that if it touches your line while you’re still creating the shape, it will cause you to lose one life. (You’ve only got three to play with.) This forces you to be creative in the creation of your fill shapes as you try to avoid the Qix. Two Sparx will also appear and add more pressure. They move randomly but instead follow the lines you have used to create the fills. One final enemy to be aware of is the Fuse. If you are creating a line and mometarily stop, a Fuse will immediately follow the path you’ve created and attempt to strike you down. As with the arcade version, there are two ways to draw the lines and shapes, fast or slow. The only difference here is that if you draw slower, you’ll get more points for the completion of the fill, but will be more open to dangers. Needless to say, the more space you have filled on the field, the less area you have to move around in and finish filling, so the more dangerous the game becomes.
The mobile version of Qix looks identical to the original. The game requires very little imagery so it should come as no surprise. What I was really surprised in was that there was no sound whatsoever. I don’t see why they wouldn’t have had enough memory to include this. It wasn’t much in the original version but still, it was something. I mentioned earlier that Qix controlled only in four ways. The problem here is that the controls don’t respond well enough to give you a good chance. But this isn’t because of the game, it’s more just because of the handset. The directional pad seems too touchy while the keypad didn’t let me focus on the game screen. I need a joystick!
Qix is a great game. It still captures my attention and delivers the challenge I remember so well. I’m disappointed in the controls, but there’s really no getting around that. Perhaps a different handset will work better but it probably won’t be as effective as a joystick. Especially because in this game the controls really need to be spot on. I was also hoping there would be other modes or upgrades to the game, but no such luck. Either way, I’m just glad to be playing it again.