Luxor: Pharaoh's Challenge

It’s a formula that has been mined again and again in the puzzle genre: matching, therefore destroying, like-colored objects (usually gems or crystals) in groups of three or more.  From Columns to Bejeweled, from Puzzle Fighter to Puzzle Quest, it’s been done over and over again.  Why?  Because it works.  MumboJumbo had success with the formula online with their Egyptian-themed puzzler Luxor, and now they’ve brought it to the PS2, in the form of Luxor: Pharaoh’s Challenge.

Right from the get-go, Pharaoh’s Challenge is steeped in ancient Egyptian lore.  The game’s storyline follows a recently departed soul into the Egyptian underworld.  Its set, fairly accurately, in the ancient Egyptian afterlife mythology that you probably learned about in sixth grade history class, then forgot entirely.  Suffice it to say that, while entertaining, the storyline is entirely superfluous.  In, fact, the story has little to nothing to do with the game proper, and merely adds some flavor to the proceedings.  That said, the next bit of storyline is a nice little reward for beating a few more levels.

Luxor’s gameplay will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played the PC version, or any of the many similar puzzle games—Puzz Loop, Magnetica, and Zuma are all more or less identical games.  Essentially, a series of multi-colored orbs make their way across the screen toward a certain point—if any orbs make it there, you lose.  To get rid of them before they get there, you can shoot your own orbs into the progression, and if three or more orbs of the same color touch, they disappear.  Bonuses, in the forms of extra points and power-ups, appear when you make either especially big chains disappear, or when you combo multiple colors.  It all starts off simply enough, but before long you’ll have tons of orbs on-screen moving pretty quickly toward that finish line.  It gets pretty addictive pretty quickly, especially once you get the hang of setting up combos, which doesn’t take long.  Before you know it, you’ll be setting off seven or eight color combinations and racking up tons of points.  Sometimes, though, you can be your own worst enemy—accidentally shooting an orb into the wrong place can ruin all your planning, and make for some frantic moments.

Visually, the game isn’t technically ambitious, but it’s got loads of ancient Egyptian charm.  From your scarab orb-shooter to the pyramid that serves as the orb’s finish line, every object in the game features some sort of ancient Egyptian artwork.  The level backdrops are attractive, too; from papyrus to the Nile, just about anything you would associate with this period of history probably serves as a level background at some point.  The backgrounds aren’t just visual, though, as they often dictate the path the orbs take, and the orbs can travel “behind” elements of the backdrop, rendering them temporarily inaccessible.  Sure, these graphics probably would have been possible on the PS1 (or DS, or even the GBA), but the simple, historical visuals are certainly interesting enough to keep the game from getting bland.  Music, too, is drawn straight from ancient Egyptian lore, so the game sounds like every Egypt-related film you’ve ever seen.  While is fine enough, I doubt anyone’s going to want to rush out and buy the soundtrack.  At worst, the music is forgettable. 

 When all is said and done, the real question is, what incentive do PS2 owners have to pick this up, versus the multitude of similar puzzle games available (let alone other versions of Luxor)?  Well, there is a good amount of content here; with 88 stages (each taking ten to fifteen minutes to complete), you can keep busy for quite a while.  There’s also Endless Mode, for those who don’t want to worry about stage progression and just want to play for a while. 

 Sure, the game sticks close to a formula that everybody’s played to death.  Still, as I said, there’s a reason the formula’s been used so much—it makes for fun, addictive puzzle games.  Luxor: Pharaoh’s Challenge, while not incredibly original, offers a good time to any puzzle gamer or Egypt fanatic.  It might not be the deepest, most incredible gaming experience of the year, but you’ll still find yourself playing “just one more level” late into the night.

Gameplay:  7.8
Yet another variation on the classic “match three colored objects” puzzle formula—it still works, though.  Control is tight, and the game’s rules are simple enough that anyone can pick it up, but there’s still some depth here for serious puzzle gamers.

Graphics:  7.6
Every pixel will remind you that the game is set in ancient Egypt.  While there’s not much to the graphics technically, the high-res artwork is pretty, varied, and detailed.  Particle effects when you chain a combo are bright and colorful.  It’s about as good-looking a game as you could hope for, given the gameplay style.

Sound:  6.7
The music’s not bad by any means, it’s just kind of generic Egyptian music.  It’s not a bad audio backdrop for the gameplay, and it probably won’t get on your nerves, but that’s about the best thing I can say for it.

Difficulty:  Medium
The game starts off simply enough, sure.  For a while, you might even be inclined to say it’s pretty easy.  By the later levels, though, the game throws out enough orbs to challenge you without frustrating you.

Concept:  7.9
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: while it’s not very original, the formula still works.  It’s a simple variation on one of the classic puzzle game styles, which is still fun, all these years later.

Overall:  7.9
For such a simple puzzle game, Luxor: Pharaoh’s Challenge is surprisingly addictive. The gameplay is rock-solid, and the game’s Egyptian theme oozes charm.  If you give it a try, you might be caught off guard by how much fun can still be had with this classic puzzle style.