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Joker's Quest

Review written by Eric Pankoke

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Take one part Boulder Dash, one part some other games that will be on the tip of your tongue as you play, throw them all in a pot, stir and simmer. That's the recipe for creating Joker's Quest, a fun and addictive new game from PDAMill.  In this review, Eric Pankoke dons his wetsuit and heads off in search of the denizens of the deep.

The graphics in Joker's Quest are top notch. All of the characters are colourful and fluidly animated. Even most of the objects found throughout the game have some animation to them, including the pulsing key used to unlock various doors in each level. There really isn't a whole lot to the background, because each level is very lovingly filled with characters, but what there is of the background is of the same standard as the rest of the images. The static images that comprise the cut scenes are also quite nice. They almost seem like stills from a cartoon. The visual style of this game is consistent and very appealing.

The sound effects in Joker's Quest are excellent. From Joker's laugh as he hides in a bed of kelp to the clang of fan blades as they're being clogged by rampant oil spills, everything has a cartoony ring to it and just seems right. The music is decent as well. Very nautical in nature, which naturally suits the theme of the game. If you just sit and listen to the tunes it tends to get a little bit repetitive, but as background while you're worrying about retrieving the pearls it works fine.

Believe it or not, this puzzle game actually has a plot! You are the town clown of Luphia, an underwater kingdom. The princess has been captured, and all the light pearls – gems that provide light, not density challenged stones – have been stolen. It's up to you to retrieve the princess and assure that Luhpia will be illumined once again.

The basic gameplay in Joker's Quest consists of collecting a certain number of pearls as designated for your current level, at which point an Exit gate will be opened for you to proceed to the next level. There are 4 worlds in Joker's Quest, and each world consists of 25 levels. In the last level of each world, in addition to collecting all the pearls for that level, you will have to fight some sort of boss. Already sounds like more than your typical puzzle game, doesn't it?

There are 29 all told, ranging from the cliché “message in a bottle” that provides you hints for your current level to the sea rotator, which actually spins the entire level by 90 degrees.

Wait until you get a load of the cast of “characters” in this game. There are 29 all told, ranging from the cliché “message in a bottle” that provides you hints for your current level to the sea rotator, which actually spins the entire level by 90 degrees. There's obviously not room to detail all of the game elements here – so if nothing else make sure you download the demo to get a feel for what all the inhabitants of Luphia have to offer. Suffice it to say that a lot of creativity went into coming up with the particular pieces and how they could be used to solve puzzles.

Many elements act as both an obstacle and an aid. Take for instance the royal turtles. When they're sleeping you won't be sneaking past them. However, wake them up and they will start wandering, potentially running into and blowing up an unwanted enemy or a rouge underwater fan standing between you and the exit to the level. Another fun creature is the pearl plant. They're firmly rooted to the ground, but roll a stone their way (to get it out of your way), and if the area below them is free of debris they'll convert that ugly stone into a beautiful light pearl.
 

One final character I'll mention is the seahorse. Each level has one, and you must collect 16 of them to get to the final boss in a particular world. As you collect the seahorses a puzzle will begin to fill in showing you what the final boss for that world will look like. Not very useful, but just a fun added feature.

The controls are pretty simple. Use the D-Pad to navigate Joker through each level. Many things can be manipulated just by Joker running into them – for instance, picking up a harpoon or reading the hints from the bottle. Other things require the combination of pressing the A button and the direction of whatever you want to activate. You can even redefine the keys if you'd like. I've always considered my Dell Axim to have a touchy D-Pad, but even so there are only rare occasions where Joker seems to have a mind of his own.

The one gripe I do have with the Quest is in the level design. For the most part there's nothing wrong with it, but many of the levels seem uninspired. It's not that they're repetitive, but rather they seem to lack the spark that says “thanks for adding that level”. This isn't a pervasive problem by any means, but it does rear its head from time to time.

Pros:
  • Wonderful cartoon graphics
  • Quality sound and decent background music
  • Great puzzle gameplay with some twists

Cons:

  • Music gets a bit repetitive
  • Somewhat uninspired level design at times

Conclusion:

If you want a puzzle game with great graphics, spot on sound, and addictive gameplay, including a little action thrown in for kicks, Joker’s Quest is your game. This is everything Coral Capers could have been and so much more. No puzzle aficionado should be without it. Joker's Quest receives a score of 9 out of 10.


 

Score-by-score breakdown

Gameplay:  90%
Graphics:  90%
Sound:  70%

Overall:  90%

Please note that the overall score is more than simply an average of the individual ratings.  Many thanks to PDAmill for providing our review copy.

You may wish to search for more reviews of games from PDAmill. Alternatively, you can view all the reviews written by Eric Pankoke.