Note: I beat the first 50 levels of the game before writing this, the box promises something like 90 levels so that's about half the game.
Logic Machines, as the title suggests, is another clone of The Incredible Machine for the DS. The game's initial retail price is 20€ which is extremely low for a DS game and for some reason the publisher found it adequate to translate the game and the box but leave the manual in English. First impression upon startup isn't terribly good as the game experiences framerate issues in the main menu. Fortunately the actual game only dips in framerate when the machine gets a bit more complicated. That doesn't mean a whole lot, about 4-5 moving parts can already cause a drop but fortunately only when the machine is running, not during edit mode.
Oh, right, describing the gameplay for those who never played TIM... Basically you've got a goal and a bunch of objects like walls, balls and balloons and you have to add some objects (you are given a set for each level) to accomplish the level goal by e.g. building a slope for the ball to roll along. Unlike Crazy Machines DS the goals in LM are fairly simple, usually just popping all balloons or knocking a brick down or something, none of that three objectives at the same time that are all implicit in the solution anyway nonsense from Crazy Machines. Editing works pretty well, you tap the basket, select a part to place and then drag it into place. Occasionally it's a bit confusing but works usually. You've got the usual arrows and delete button attached to the object and can drag it around. Since levels are larger than the screen you can scroll by dragging where no objects are. The top screen always shows you a view of the whole level.
Now the puzzles themselves. They tend to be too easy and simple. Many levels involve only 2-3 placeable objects which doesn't leave a whole lot of room for errors. Unlike CM DS electronic contraptions are rare and you rarely just throw things into the only gap where they can fit so at least some thinking is involved, usually just not enough. As CM DS did with its action mode there are some interactive components that can be operated while the machine is running, for example a slingshot that slings a stone when you pull it back with the stylus or a wind wheel that turns when you blow into the mic. These mostly work well, just the crank has a tendency to "fall off" your stylus, making it stop turning while you spin it. The interactive parts are strewn into regular puzzles but not very often either. Unfortunately they rarely seem to be used as more than a gimmick either. There's a slim chance that the difficulty will increase in the remaining levels but there's not much room left for that. It's a shame since the game software is pretty good and IMO works better than Crazy Machines, it just could have used better levels.
What makes the game suffer somewhat is the Egyptian style the developers went for for some reason. The story is something about going through a pyramid to find a treasure but really, it's just windowdressing. What's a bit annoying is that this means electric component can't simply be called that, they're labelled as magic components which is a bit confusing and leads to a few counterintuitive designs (like the laser looking like a lens). Other than a few mentions of Egyptian gods in the level goals that doesn't amount to much, it's still your everyday TIM clone. Sound isn't really worth mentioning, I think there's only one track of background music but it doesn't hurt. Palloon pops are a bit loud, sound more like explosions.
Recommendation: If you want a well made but not really challenging TIM clone Logic Machines is the way to go. It certainly compares favourably to Crazy Machines though I think it has nothing on The Incredible Machine in terms of brain use needed.
Topic: Logic Machines (DS) (Read 6121 times)
