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Review
Review by  Ryan Sheppard
Reviewed on 2004-11-22
Attention span: 9/10 You must like puzzle, otherwise 10.
Controls: 10/10 They are placed well, respond fast.
Implementation: 9/10 Still want some action...
Overall: 10/10 Grayscale, Great gameplay, small!!!

Diamonds v2.0 is a game where you are a ball that bounces up and down and up and down. You get to use left and right to steer it. Your objective is to take away every block. When you start you kill white blocks; if you have a half black/pattern you will take that pattern away if it is hit. There are key, lock, and other kinds of blocks in certain levels. You then try to pass the level by getting the blocks you can hit only once all other hit. Then you go to next level and you try to get a high score, which is very addictive (I have played 1.2 for hours and hours at school, and now that it has a save feature so i can pause my game, do some math, and come back.. I am gonna play it even more).

Now I am going to go over the awesome features new to version 2.0. First things first, grayscale! The grayscale runs fast and looks better than some games grayscale. It also runs pretty fast and for some reason it seems to be smoother than 1.2... The title screen was somewhat changed (looks cool) and and the effect where the screen splits runs a bit slower, which allows you to see how cool it really is. It now has a save game feature so you can pause your game to go do math or whatever... It is also ONLY 3.2K! (not including levels or editor)

It also includes a on-calculator level editor which is optional. The editor is set up well and makes it easy to create your own levels and see if your friends can beat your score at it. This is everything I can think of that this kind of game could be and the whole game works great.

I love this game but it needs some action, although I ranked it high because it is just a very addictive strategy game and it has amazing grayscale that runs smooth and fast.

Review
Review by  Joel Thompson
Reviewed on 2004-01-24
This is a great game. It's an adaptation of a similar program for the TI-89, except this version is better in my opinion. It's like a Breakout game, except that you control the ball, and there are no paddles. Rather, you bounce off the walls. The object of the game is clear all the clearable bricks in a level.

The standard level pack has 21 levels, but there is support for more levels, along with 5 speeds, so you'll never get bored. There are also levels on ticalc.org as well as a level editor, so, if you get bored, you can write your own levels.

In this version, there is also a small easter egg. See if you can find it without looking at the source (I had to look at the source myself). It makes the game more interesting.

The 4-level grayscale is flickerless, and the graphics are well-done as well. Every speed is playable, but the faster you go, the higher the possible score. In addition, high-scores are kept in the level, so you can always play against yourself. Without doubt, one of the best TI-86 games ever made.

(Reviewer's note/possible bias alert: I fell in love with this game on the TI-86, but couldn't get the 89 version working, so I made my own 89 version).


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