Preview By: Siou Choy
Developer:	HotGen
Publisher:	Kemco
Genre:	Puzzle
Est. Release:	September 2002
Posted:	8-7-02

Puzzle fans, rejoice! A new puzzle game will be heading your way, regardless of your system of choice! Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness will be released for the Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance later this year courtesy of HotGen Studios and Kemco.

As you can guess from the title, Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness is…wait for it…a puzzle game featuring eggs! (duh…) You’re given the opportunity to choose between several uniquely designed egg characters, ranging from an "average" egg to ones in tin suits, jester hats, and even a deviled egg (complete with horns, get it?…OK, the joke sucks. What did you expect from a game with a title like this?).

OK, here’s the deal. I doubt there’s anybody on the planet who hasn’t played some variation of Tetris at this point in history, so y’all should have no trouble with Egg Mania. The gimmick? Instead of destroying blocks, you’ll be building blocks (ooohhhh). The purpose being, to build a tower of sorts so you can reach the top of a preexisting tower (or hot air-balloon) before the evil mysterious rising water level floods you. There can’t be any gaps in your little tower of blocks, or the rising water destroys your level (and presumably, you end up hard boiled…get it? OKAY, already, I KNOW it sucks…sheesh…). Single blocks can be used to fill in those nasty little holes in the structure and prevent it from collapsing. To make the game more interesting, you have to collect falling blocks and toss them into your desired locations, while watching out for flying birds and other obstacles that block your aim and steal blocks from you. When playing in two player "bomb" mode, the game gets even more dicey. In this mode, your opponent can toss bombs at you (duh) in hopes of blowing up your tower of blocks or knocking you off the building. Of course, what goes around comes around. But watch out: if you toss your bomb too early, your opponent can throw it back at you causing your own structure to blow up.

Like most puzzle games, Egg Mania is rendered with classic 2D sprites, and can be best described as cute, colorful, and bright (like you were expecting any different?). This might be a good game to give that annoying little brat who won’t eat his breakfast, and show him just how much fun eggs can be.

Egg Mania includes modes for single player and a two player versus (including the aforementioned 2 player Bomb Mode), as well as an eight player tournament mode. Unfortunately, the tournament only offers two player round robin format, so "eight player tournament" is a bit of a misnomer. Still in all, there are nine modes of play in Egg Mania, which should keep the average egg lover protein enriched (if not cholesterol-free).

Kemco will be releasing Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness this September. If you’re a puzzle fan, you probably wouldn’t want to pass on this one.

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