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GBA

North America

Fortress

by David Trammell - August 26, 2001, 1:52 am EDT

With Spaceworld 2001 receding into Nintendo history, it's time to start doing real "work" again! With that in mind, come take a look at how Majesco's Fortress turned out.

Fortress was definitely one of the higher profile GBA titles for the month of August. While there wasn't a huge amount of anticipation for it, many were eying it as a potential sleeper hit or better. Unfortunately, the game will probably come across as a mixed bag for most of you.

I started out playing Fortress in the one player mode (and that's all I could do considering I don't know another soul within 300 miles who owns a GBA). Originally, I was a bit unhappy with the game as it's sort of complicated and there is no tutorial mode (and I don't like instruction books). Eventually, I picked up the instructions and did a little research. I'll begin by telling you how the game works since the previews I'd read before playing hadn't given me an inkling of what to expect.

The basic premise of Fortress is that you must defeat your opponent. Your opponent will either be controlled by the computer, or another player. To win, you must simply gain a certain number of "points" before the other player does. To gain points, you move the decidedly Tetris-like blocks into position around your battlefield. Whenever a grid of 2x3 or more blocks is placed, the blocks will transform from ugly "Tetris" pieces to the shiny walls of your new castle. These walls can withstand enemy shots better, and any 3x8 towers you create will become home to a wizard that will help destroy the enemy. Periodically cannons or "Twerp" barracks will fall instead of a block. The cannons will fire shots, and the "Twerps" will either help rebuild your fortress, or tear your enemy's down. You have about 30-45 seconds (I forgot) to get your castle built up before the fighting begins.

Interestingly enough, once the fighting begins, you really just continue doing what you were doing before. You don't control any of the cannons (ala Rampart), and you don't control your "Twerps". You simply continue building your fortifications until your score is high enough to get you a victory. This style of play nearly makes Fortress a straight puzzle game more in the vein of Tetris than Rampart (which is what it's usually compared too). Unfortunately, this is where the games shortcomings become apparent. The game plays like a puzzle game, but you always have an opponent to defeat. This makes the single player game against the computer very limited. There are four "themes" to play through, Medieval, Prehistoric, Pirate and Space, but they are nearly identical except for the graphics and music. There is no marathon mode for single player where you can play indefinitely, so once you beat Tournament, the only thing that's left is Battle (just like Tournament, except you play just one round with the theme of your choice) and Blitz (just like Battle, except the cannons start shooting immediately instead of after the 30 seconds is up).

So what about multiplayer? Well, from what I played in one player, I think it could be very fun, although for how long I can't say. I'd recommend that you give it a rent and try it out with a friend; unfortunately, you will have to rent two copies of the game, since there are no single cartridge multiplayer options. As far as I can tell, two players will be limited to Battle and Blitz options only with nothing extra.

The only other things left to mention are graphics, sound and control. The graphics are pretty nice. The themes are executed well, and the hand drawn art is pleasing to the eye. The music is better than I expected for this type of game, and it matches the graphical theme for the level you're on nicely. The music itself is above average, although the tracks aren't quite compositional masterpieces. The control disturbed me a little at first because the game looks so much like Tetris, yet it has a few key differences in control that can be a little annoying at first. It's nothing that you can't adapt to though. I'd strongly suggest that developers who borrow freely from another game's look also adapt the controls as closely as possible.

In closing, this game is pretty fun for a little while, but with a limited one player mode, lack of polish and the two player mode requiring a second cartridge, this is definitely a rent before you buy.

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Genre Puzzle
Developer Pipe Dream Interactive
Players1 - 2

Worldwide Releases

na: Fortress
Release Aug 13, 2001
PublisherMajesco
RatingEveryone

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