Let’s Play Klax [Strobe Warning]
126Be advised that this video may contains scenes not suitable for people who suffer from epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.
When you thought of puzzle games during the 90s, there was one name that always came to mind first: Tetris. It was a colossal success unlike few other franchises and has endured to this day. So huge was its cultural impact that many have strived to emulate its success, though few have succeeded. This was especially true in the 90s and while a few companies had limited success in creating their own spin on the style of play Tetris offered – Columns And Puyo Puyo are two such examples – those are not the ones we will be talking about here. Today we will talking about Klax created by Atari Games.
What’s that? You’ve never heard of Klax before? That might be because it couldn’t slay the mighty behemoth that was Tetris and fell into oblivion like many who tried along with the company itself a number of years later.
It’s a shame really, as Klax has pretty solid gameplay that gets challenging quickly. The way you place the different coloured blocks is one that I haven’t seen since Klax and while it may not seem complicated at first, you quickly discover that there’s a lot more going on that you need to pay attention to if you strive to get far. Those are all good things for a puzzle game and I’m sure it didn’t too badly in the arcades but try as it might, it couldn’t complete with Tetris and so it was left in the 90s to languish. There are many different ports of the game and I decided to show off the Megadrive one due to the ease of doing so and a curious quirk about the different versions of it for the system, but all the ports are very similar. Some music certainly would’ve made this one a bit better, but as the gameplay is the main focus I’d call that a minor complaint.
All in all, I found myself pleasantly surprised when I first came across this game and a little sad to see its fate, but not all games can be a success. Perhaps one day Klax will return, but I doubt it.
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