LEGO Bricks (video game)
| LEGO Bricks | |
|---|---|
 Promotional artwork | |
| Developer(s) | Cobra Mobile |
| Publisher(s) | Hands-On Mobile |
| Director(s) | Rick Marazzani[1] |
| Platform(s) | Mobile (J2ME) |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
LEGO Bricks is a 2006 puzzle video game developed by Cobra Mobile and published by Hands-On Mobile for mobile phone platforms. Players manipulate falling LEGO bricks to align bricks of the same colour, scoring points as they clear bricks. The game was initially pitched as an unbranded title by its developer before being reworked to use the LEGO license. LEGO Bricks was the first LEGO mobile game, and was followed by a number of other J2ME titles over the next three years.
Gameplay
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LEGO Bricks is a falling block tile-matching game. Groups of three LEGO bricks in a row fall from the top of the screen; each brick in the group can be coloured red, yellow, green, or blue. While falling, the brick groups can be moved left or right, rotated, or sped up. Once placed, matching lines of three or more bricks of the same colour will be cleared from the screen. Matching lines of bricks increases the player's score and fills the meter on the right side of the screen; completely filling the meter increases the player's level. Each new level reached causes bricks to fall slightly faster; in some versions of the game the background image of the playing field changes too. If one of the columns under where bricks are dropped reaches the top of the playing field, the game ends. The top five highest scores achieved are saved on the high scores table.[4][5][1]
Besides the four basic colours, there are a few special bricks as well. Groups will sometimes contain danger bricks, marked with horizontal or vertical lines. When matched, danger bricks will destroy all bricks in their row or column regardless of colour any other danger bricks in their destruction path will also be set off. There are also ice bricks, which fall as only a single light blue brick. Ice bricks create a line of ice filling the row they land on, blocking all other bricks until they eventually melt.[4]
Development and release
LEGO Bricks was developed by Cobra Mobile. The company was founded in 2005 to develop mobile games for the J2ME, BREW, and Symbian platforms. The developers spent six months creating internal tools and developing prototypes to test game concepts. In early 2006 Cobra started pitching their game prototypes to mobile publishers. Although their titles recieved positive feedback, publishers did not want to sign off on anything without an established brand name attached to it. One of their game prototypes was noticed by the LEGO Group, however, and Cobra was asked to rebrand it as a LEGO title, which became LEGO Bricks.[6]
The game was announced by publisher Hands-On Mobile,[note 1] at the CITA conference on 5 April 2006. It was to be the first game published under an agreement Hands-On Mobile had signed with TT Games Publishing to market mobile LEGO products in Europe, the United States, and the Asia–Pacific. At the time it was planned to release during the first half of 2006.[9][10] During April 5–7 the game was demonstrated at the CITA trade show in the Las Vegas Convention Center; Hands-On Mobile was stationed at Booth 2653-V in the M-tertainment Pavilion.[9] In May 2006 LEGO Bricks was available to play in Hands-On Mobile's booth at E3 2006.[1] The game was launched in Europe on 10 July 2006,[3] and in North America on 27 November 2006.[2]
Reception
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Pocket Gamer | 6/10[5] |
Chris Maddox of Pocket Gamer, playing on a Nokia 6280, gave LEGO Bricks a score 6 out of 10. Maddox praised its gameplay and its "clear and colourful" visual presentation, but felt that it lacked depth and originality, concluding that the game was "best used for five to ten minute bursts of boredom busting".[5] Pocket Gamer also frequently compared the game to Tetris, with one writer doubting it would play any differently from Tetris prior to Maddox's review.[3]
By April 2007 LEGO Bricks was still considered a best-selling mobile title, along with Cobra's other launch title Sensible Soccer Skillz.[11]
Additional screenshots
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128×128 resolution -
128×160 resolution -
176×220 resolution -
Danger blocks can blast through ice -
Main menu (176×220) -
Main menu (240×320)
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Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dredge, Stuart (17 May 2006). "Hands on with, erm, Hands On Mobile games". Pocket Gamer. Bath, Somerset: Steel Media. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Davis, Justin (November 27, 2006). "Hands-On Mobile Launches Lego Bricks". Game Developer. Archived from the original on December 23, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bennallack, Owain (10 July 2006). "LEGO Bricks drops Tetris style onto mobile". Pocket Gamer. Bath, Somerset: Steel Media. Archived from the original on 10 August 2006.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cobra Mobile (2006). LEGO Bricks (J2ME) (1.1.3 ed.). Mforma Group. Scene: "Help" menu.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Maddox, Chris (3 August 2006). "Lego Bricks". Pocket Gamer. Bath, Somerset: Steel Media. Archived from the original on 10 August 2006.
- ↑ daiashi (April 2013). "Game Zone: iBomber Attack". The PCLinuxOS Magazine. Vol. 75. p. 16. Archived from the original on 23 December 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
- ↑ IGN Wireless (April 6, 2006). "MFORMA Becomes Hands-On". IGN. Archived from the original on April 8, 2006.
- ↑ Cobra Mobile (2006). LEGO Bricks (J2ME) (1.1.3 ed.). Mforma Group. Scene: "About" menu.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "LEGO Games on Your Mobile Phone". Raving Toy Maniac. April 5, 2006. Archived from the original on December 23, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
- ↑ "Hands-On Mobile to Distribute LEGO" (Press release). San Francisco: Hands-On Mobile. 28 April 2006. Archived from the original on 27 November 2006 – via Kiloo.
- ↑ "Cobra Mobile Releases Mind Games". GamesIndustry.biz. Eurogamer Network Ltd. April 25, 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
