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God, what a weird game. And it looks so simple, right? Oh, there�s bubbles and colors, and
Bust-a-Move. And like, you know right away that you have to match them and clear them.
And you think that�s gonna be the thrust of the game. But oh, no.
That�s only one of the gears around which Spin Jam...spins.
So Spin
Jam was released back in the year 2000. Grab the flashlight, cue the Conan reference. And
there was actually a little phrase on the box art. It said, �Puzzled? You will be.�
And I thought, �Get out of here. Puzzled. It�s...match three, with bubbles.�
�Wait, the matches explode? Oh, and the force from said explosion causes bubbles directly
on the opposite side to eject outward? Wait, and I have to aim them, too?�
The box should also say, �Yeah. That�s right, d*ck head.�
So this is one of those times when...I�m glad these are videos, because Spin Jam is
kinda hard to explain without footage. I mean...so the levels are actually flowers, alright?
And you shoot these bubbles onto the center of the flower. Match the colors, and those
bubbles burst. That sends any bubbles on the opposite side flying.
And this is where things get complicated.
See, you�re shooting balls at the center, but there are also petals at the edges. The
basic idea is...get the bubbles on the opposite side of your matches to go flying into petals
of the same color. So...it�s, like, match, turn, aim, match again.
Get puzzled. Box art doesn�t lie.
So how do you lose? Well, aside from getting a headache and discovering that you�re out
of Advil...if there are too many bubbles building up, they start to turn grey. And if that color
spreads to the center, it�s game over. That means you have to work fast. Given how much
is involved here, working fast is really tricky.
Spin Jam is fun, there�s no question about it. But it is a bit complicated. And I always
find with puzzlers that...the simpler the design, the better the game. You can build
really complex puzzles from a simple gameplay idea. The gameplay idea doesn�t need to
be complex, too. Again, that�s not to say this is a bad puzzler, but...it�s definitely
not for everyone. And it�s not as addictive as some of the genre�s heavyweights.
The game gives you lots of ways to play, which is nice. There�s a story mode, which gives
you several computer-controlled characters to play against. There�s an arcade mode,
too...and multiplayer, which can get pretty hectic. It�s definitely a sweet little puzzler.
It�s just...God, what a weird game.
Thanks to Justin from Maryland for...sending it in. Confusing me.