Grotic is based on the highly popular arcade (and Super Nintendo) game "Puzzle Bobble", by Taito. Grotic resembles Puzzle Bobble in everyway, except for the number of levels. Even after registering the game only has 44 levels (there are 9 in the demo), whereas Puzzle Bobble has a near infinite amount. However Grotic also costs less than half of the cost of Puzzle Bobble.
For those of you who are not familiar with Puzzle Bobble, the object of Grotic is too clear all the balls from the screen before they have a chance to reach the bottom and crush you. The game is very simply to learn and play - a huge plus for a puzzle game. The game is simple to play- when you start a level, there will be a bunch of balls at You must eliminate those balls by shooting more balls up so that there are groups of three or more adjoining balls of the same color. When you get a group with three or more balls in it, they disappear (and all balls that were supported by those that disappeared also disappear - the more balls you get rid of at once, the more points. In order to remain on the screen, a ball must also be connected to the top of the playing area in one way or another- either connected directly to it, or connected to it by a chain of other balls. Once you figure out how to aim the balls well, the game is simple to play, but fortunately the author added a feature that allows you to drastically increase the speed of play, so it'll remain challenging.
 
Scaled 72%
There really is nothing that significantly hinders gameplay. The graphics are a little confusing, and the high score list is next to impossible to read, but the actual game play is fantastic. It does get a little boring after a while, but if you buy the full version, you get 44 levels that will keep you occupied for a while. A level editor would give the game much better replay value, though (next version, possibly?). Music would also help this game. The few sound effects are repeatetive and annoying, more so after you've played the game for ten minutes. A good sountrack of small space taking MODs would make the game even more of an enjoyable experience.
The competition. Being a puzzle game, there is quite a bit of competition. However Grotic is very unique in that there is not a single game like it availible for the Macintosh, be it commerical or shareware. Because you can choose the speed you want to play at, I'd choose this over Tetris-like games, which increase the speed when you pass levels. Grotic is also more fun than Tetris, because each level brings you new suprises and more challenges, instead of just going from one level to the next without any change in the block setup.
The bottom line. Anyway you look at it, Grotic is a great game. It's fun and simple, the shareware fee is reasonable, and it has very small disk and RAM requirements. This game is for any gamer, even if you're not a puzzle enthusiast.
 
graphics sound effects music
   n/a
challenge addictiveness fun factor
   
concept game play story line
   n/a
overeall
 
 
Grotic's System Requirements:
• 1.1 megabytes of hard drive space
• 800 kilobytes of RAM
• monitor capable of displaying 640x480 pixels at 256 colors
