A portion of an interview by WiiWare World with Empty Clip Studios.....
WW: Do you feel Groovin' Blocks is more aimed at the causal or hardcore gamer?
FB: I would say that our game is aimed at people who like music-based games like Lumines and Rock Band.
We put a lot of thought into making Groovin' Blocks an enjoyable, long-lasting experience for everyone. For us, that meant making sure beginners and people who don't play too many games would be able to have fun immediately, and feel like they are progressing through the game. Also, being hard-core gamers ourselves, we wanted to make sure we presented an interesting challenge and progression to the most dedicated, diehard players.
The question between hard-core and casual is sometimes controversial in the industry. In the case of this game, we think the genre does appeal to everyone and we went to great lengths to make sure there is a lot of fun to be had whether for a pick-up-and-play "casual" player or a "hard-core" player who wants to truly test his/her skills and unlock everything.
Released at the tail end of 2008 on Nintendo's WiiWare service, Groovin' Blocks has just recently found its way to PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store. The debut game from Empty Clip Studios might seem like your standard color matching puzzler merged with catchy, beat-driven music, but it takes the concept pioneered by Lumines and actually makes it a vital gameplay element. The result is a fun, quirky puzzle game that has plenty of content for $10.
Given the sheer number of puzzle games available now, it's really hard to decide that you want to purchase yet another one. They really need to come up with something to make them unique and new. Groovin' Blocks is a new puzzle game that definitely has that twist to make it different!
For $9 Groovin Blocks is an enjoyable game despite the somewhat steep learning curve. The game may not be as accessible as other puzzle games but hey, not all puzzle games need to be for your 75 year-old grandma. It would've nice if the game flowed better in regard to the combos and the beat mechanics given the potential it had. It's also a tad disappointing that there's no online play, just two local modes and that's it. Groovin' Blocks is far from being perfect and a completely addicting puzzle game but for $9 it's worth checking out if you have some free time you want to kill.
