Ever wish you could build a legendary city that will stand the test of time? Jewel Master Cradle of Rome 2 allows you to do that as you recreate Rome starting from a small building and growing it to legendary status. As you match tiles in lines of 3 or more, you will have a beautiful picture that shows you your food, resources, gold, and time.
As you clear the levels you will have the option to buy resources as well. To purchase these items you have mini-puzzles that you must complete such as moving pieces of a puzzle that are all mixed up and moving them into the correct position using the guide picture on the top screen. You move up in rank starting with Peasant. You must build your city as you complete each epoch.
You can choose one of two icons to create your profile. Once you do this, your progress will be saved. As you move up in levels the puzzles get harder. The puzzles start with simple layouts and challenges, but they build up into tougher challenges that include: completing multiple levels without running out of time to changing the color of the tiles and unlocking tiles that appear “frozen”.
There are 3 icons you can choose from: Play adventure; Tourney Mode; and Blitz. You unlock Tourney mode when you play Adventure Mode and Blitz mode is unlocked when you complete Play Adventure mode. As you move through Adventure Mode you will unlock Epochs. With each Epoch, you will learn a little bit more about the game. You also gain things like food, water and other resources necessary to build your city as you play.
Play Adventure gets harder as you go up in levels. You must complete this in the time allotted. As you play Adventure Mode, new puzzles will unlock and become available in Tourney Mode. When playing in Tourney Mode, you can get a medal all depending on how fast you complete each game. The faster you complete it the higher your medal.
You can get a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal for beating the level in the allotted time given, but levels can completed without earning a medal. The time for each medal counts down on the top screen. Which medal you are in the running for will be highlighted. Once you go past the time allowed, the next medal will be highlighted. For example: if the gold medal is awarded at 1:30 and the silver medal is awarded at 2:45 – finishing the level at 1:45 will get you the silver medal.
You can replay each puzzle to get the highest medal possible. The more you clear in Adventure Mode, the more of Tourney Mode is opened to you. The goal of Blitz Mode is to complete as many levels of the puzzle as soon as possible. To clear a level in Cradle of Rome 2 requires overcoming many challenges. These challenges include frozen tiles, locked pieces and oddly positioned tiles, among others. You can earn power ups that can help you clear a level faster. These include, but are not limited to, bombs that will destroy a section of your choice and hammers that will destroy 1 tile of your choice.
Jewel Master Cradle of Rome 2 is a solid addition to the match-three game genre. The challenges offered in some of the puzzles increase the difficulty and it has you strategizing to clear a puzzle. Puzzle gamers everywhere will enjoy playing this game on the go. Raise your stylus and start creating history one block at a time.
Danip
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Rising Star Games
Publisher: Rising Star Games
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Price: $29.99
Cradle of Rome 2’s Official Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Beautiful with lots of colors. When solving the picture puzzle, the picture is clear enough that you can replicate it. | |
| Sound | |
| The music is calming and fits the game's atmosphere. As you reach the end of your time, you will start to hear a heartbeat. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Fun to play and offers many options. The ability to switch between game modes allows you to play what suits your mood. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| The challenge of building the Great City of Rome adds to the gameplay. | |
