Shibuya Review

Shibuya is a relative newcomer to the App Store and has yet to hit the top charts, however it is a thoroughly polished and well-crafted game, with addictive gameplay, excellent music, and a fantastic pick-up-and-play feel.

Shibuya is part matching game, part tetris. In a single file line, clear horizontal blocks fall in a steady stream. you are given a preview of which blow (of one of four colors) is about to call. You then place the colored blocks in an order within the clear blocks to attempt to get as many match blocks to touch. You can match and clear as little as two and as many as, well, however many you can manage among the frantic pace. As the pieces fall you achieve combos along the side or two special goals: all clear or massive, referring to a large combo. The real special part of the game is the order in which you place the blocks. Say your order is yellow-red-yellow-red-red. You would tap the bottom clear block to place a yellow, then leave a gap above it, and place a red atop the gap, only to fill the gap with a yellow to make the combo. The planning aspect and pattern creation seems like a snap on lower difficulty, but as the games more on and the difficulty rises and the music increases in tempo you find yourself making rash moves, mistakes, and poor decisions, sometimes resulting in empty, gray blocks being placed with can only be erased by an adjacent combo.

 
One of the real selling points of Shibuya, aside from the addictive gameplay, is the excellent soundtrack, a mix of techno, synth, and ambient loops that, rather than distract from the gameplay, enhance it.

To be honest, there is not much more a reviewer can say about Shibuya other than that is is an incredible and addictive game that shows off how fantastic an iOS game can be without flashy graphics and overly complicated gameplay. It is a truly enjoyable and appealing puzzle game, supported by a fantastic soundtrack, and a slick design.

 

Author: Kit Marlowe