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Super GameHouse CollectionReviewed By: Erica Marceau Review Computer: 400MHz G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) with 768MB RAM, ATI Rage Pro 128, Mac OS X (v10.2.4) Review Date: May 30, 2003
In Super Collapse!, you have to click on blocks that are in clusters of three or more to make them disappear. The blocks above will collapse onto the blocks below, and every few seconds another line will appear at the bottom. There are bombs which can either destroy every block of a certain color (red, blue, green, or white) or all of the blocks around the bomb. You can start on level 1, 4 or 8, and your high scores are saved.
In Super Nisqually!, you have to make blocks disappear by aligning them into horizontal or vertical lines of three or more matching blocks. When you do this, the blocks above will fall down onto the blocks below and you have to remove enough from the level to move to the next one. When you've completed all 18 levels, you've won. There are five levels of difficulty, you can't select which level you start on, and your high scores are saved.
All three of the games are very similar, and that is what lowered the value of this collection for me. GameHouse has a such a wide variety of games that I wonder why they couldn't have had the same variety in this collection. They have puzzle, card & board, action, word, casino, and sports categories, and yet they chose three games from the puzzle category. Games which are rather tedious and boring and simple. Other puzzle games spice things up by adding a variety of power ups which give and take away benefits but these games just have a few. It's not that I don't like puzzle games—I've played very many great ones—these simply don't measure up.  [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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GameHouse specializes in making puzzles games. For MacPlay's Super GameHouse Collection, they combined Super Collapse!, Super Glinx!, and Super Nisqually! in one package. As with all game collections you save a lot of money but don't have the ability to select which games are included. Is it worth it to buy this package when all three games can be played online for free (albeit in slimmer versions)? Did GameHouse put together a super collection or a super dud?
In Super Glinx!, you have to remove all of the pieces on each level by linking at least two matching pieces together. There is a special piece that can extend the chain to pieces of the same color and another that can extend the chain to pieces of different colors. There are two modes (puzzle and action) and three levels of difficulty (easy, medium, and hard). You can't select which level you start on in either mode, and your high scores are saved.
The graphics are very bright and colorful and it's easy to tell the difference between the blocks. It would have been nice to be able to select a different appearance for the background and blocks since you're stuck with just the default. The sound effects are the usual blips and ploops, and the music is a collection of bland techno tracks, both of which you can turn off with no great loss.