Tower Bloxx Deluxe Review

A truly addicting Xbox Live Arcade title.

A game like Tower Bloxx Deluxe may not be on the minds of gamers which is completely understandable given the games cartoony approach and quirky game design. Despite this, Tower Bloxx Deluxe is the type of game that will appeal to gamers from all backgrounds be it for 5 minute intervals, or longer.

The story involves a dying city, the mayor in an attempt to revive the city takes his planners advice to build “tower blocks” as a means to increase the city’s population. The catch? The only person able to buid these blocks is your avatar! The story is wacky and completely fitting of the gameplay, and mechanic design. Don’t go into Tower Bloxx expecting an intriguing story, you might get a few laughs from it but it mostly exists to serve the purpose of attempting to tie things together.

The cutscenes are 2D animations which look really nice, the art style used for the game is aiming for a cartoony look that works really well in the end. The game runs at a solid framerate even in the most hectic scenarios, which is an added bonus. The effects are minimal but those that are present fit the cartoony mood of the game.

The gameplay involves you stacking blocks to build a tower, the amount of blocks you need to stack changes depending on the type of tower you are building. A swinging crane allows you to drop blocks onto your tower, you essentially need to release your crane at the right moment and hope it lands where you need it. Placing a block directly on top of another block results in a perfect place gives you a temporary multiplier, chains increase this multiplier by one as well as increase its length. The stability of your tower also increases for each perfect block placed. A “watch” mechanic appears from time to time, from what we can tell, it doesn’t really do anything other than give you a different view of your tower. After a successful drop, avatars will drop into your newly added bloxx in a Mary Poppins esqe fashion.

There’s plenty of content in the game to keep your time occupied, various unlockables that are unlocked during population milestones, plenty of cities to build on, etc. An added bonus is the more you play the more your skill will improve at the game giving you a reason to rebuild old towers.

Multiplayer is also a component in Tower Bloxx Deluxe, however, only local multiplayer modes are present ranging from time attacks, battle mode, and cooperative play with all up to 4 players. Battle mode involves you fighting up to 3 other players to reach certain milestones in terms of tower height, along the way you can pick up various items to slow down the progress of other players or increase your progress. Cooperative play involves you working together with another player to achieve milestones, and finally time attacks require you to build your tower before the time runs out, reaching certain milestones or placing your tower perfectly increases your time. The last player standing wins! While leaderboards are also present, don’t expect much more on the Xbox Live side of things.

 
Overall Tower Bloxx Deluxe is definitely a title Xbox 360 owners should check out, if the gameplay doesn’t grab you and make you a customer for life this title might not be for you. Despite its short comings, Tower Bloxx provides a great deal of fun suitable for all ages.