Columns (video game)
| Columns | |
|---|---|
Cover art
|
|
| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Composer(s) | Tokuhiko Uwabo |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Atari ST, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, Sega Game Gear, PC Engine, FM Towns, NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, MSX2, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Virtual Console, iOS |
| Release |
Arcade 1990 Mega Drive
|
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Display | Raster, standard resolution (320X224) 32 Colors |
| Review score | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| MegaTech | 88% |
Columns (Japanese: コラムス Hepburn: Koramusu?) is a match-three puzzle video game created by Jay Geertsen in 1989. Early versions of the game were ported across early computer platforms and Atari ST. In 1990, Jay Geertsen sold the rights to Sega, who ported the game to several Sega consoles.
Columns was one of the many SameGame/Tetris-like tile-matching puzzle games to appear after its great success in the late 1980s. The area of play is enclosed within a tall, rectangular playing area. Columns of three different symbols (such as differently-colored jewels) appear, one at a time, at the top of the well and fall to the bottom, landing either on the floor or on top of previously-fallen "columns". While a column is falling, the player can move it left and right, and can also cycle the positions of the symbols within it. After a column lands, if three or more of the same symbols are connected in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, those symbols disappear. The pile of columns then settles under gravity. If this resettlement causes three or more other symbols to align, they too disappear and the cycle repeats. Occasionally, a special column with a multicolor Magic Jewel appears. It destroys all the jewels with the same color as the one underneath it. The columns fall at a faster rate as the player progresses. The goal of the game is to play for as long as possible before the well fills up with jewels, which ends the game.
Some ports of the game offer alternate game modes as well. "Flash columns" involves mining their way through a set number of lines to get to a flashing jewel at the bottom. "Doubles" allows two players work together in the same well. "Time trial" involves racking up as many points as possible within the time limit.
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Wikipedia