Summary An odd puzzle game that plays much like reverse Tetris. You must form squares out of falling blocks. 9 stages and various ships and difficulty levels will provide enjoyment for the puzzle fan at heart.

Description In Quarth, your mission is to destroy tetrads falling from the sky to keep the Quarthdome below safe. You choose one of six ships to combat the forces of evil...er, blocks. All are of equal strength; just the graphics vary. They are interesting, though! Here's how the game basically plays. Your ship is at the bottom of the screen below a safety line, and tetrads of various shapes and sizes (10 in all) fall toward you from the top. Instead of simply shooting them and blowing them up, your ship shoots square blocks to add on to them. Once you form an enclosed rectangle or square, the shape disappears, and you earn points. The bigger the box when cleared, the more points and the greater possibility of picking up a power-up. There are 5 power-ups in the 1 player mode, and 5 in the 2 player mode. (although there are a total of 7, as there are 2 variations depending on the number of players.) All of these help you by slowing the blocks, increasing firepower, etc. There is also a wildcard power-up, which is totally random (and can also hurt you). Strategy comes into play, as it may be difficult to clear all the tetrad pieces individually, especially in the later levels and harder difficulties. Instead, some blocks fall in patterns that can be combined, allowing for quicker removal, combos, and big points. In the two player mode, you are trying to clear the stage of blocks faster than your opponent. There are some additional tricks allowed here, like altering your opponent's blocks to be triply-thick (and, thus, more difficult to remove) or increasing the rate at which the blocks fall. All of this sounds complicated, but it really isn't once you start playing. There are various difficulty levels and a total of nine stages with increasing difficulty. Unfortunately, the stages are the same all the time, and once you beat all nine stages, the game really loses its replay value. I think the game is fun to play, but not everybody will enjoy it and/or stay interested for very long. Overall, Quarth is an interesting puzzle game that is worth picking up if puzzles are your thing. 2 player mode could keep things less monotonous, too. This game is relatively easy to find and seems to be cheap everywhere I've seen it. I recommend this game. Review Page Hits: 1 today (6 in the last 30 days) Create Your Own Review or