| Cradle of Rome | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | cerasus.media |
| Publisher(s) | D3 Publisher |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS, Wii |
| Release | Nintendo DS
|
| Genre(s) | Puzzle, strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Cradle of Rome (released in some regions as Jewel Master: Cradle of Rome) is the first in a series of tile-matching puzzle and strategy video games developed by German studio cerasus.media and published by D3 Publisher on November 18, 2008 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. The Wii version was released on March 31, 2009. The game has been brought to Steam since 2007.
The game was originally created for Windows by Awem studio from Belarus as a casual game. It has been followed by a variety of Cradle/Jewel Master games including Cradle of Athena, Cradle of Egypt and Cradle of Persia.
YouTube Encyclopedic
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CGRundertow JEWEL MASTER: CRADLE OF ROME 2 for Nintendo 3DS Video Game Review
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Jewel Master: Cradle of Rome Nintendo Wii Gameplay - Match Three
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Cradle of Rome Levels 1-5
Transcription
I guess Jewel Master is kind of a well-known series. I don’t know, I’ve actually never heard of it, to be honest. But I gotta tell you, it didn’t make the best impression on the Nintendo 3DS. This is Jewel Master: Cradle Of Rome 2. This game is, like, averageness in physical form. Jewel Master: Cradle Of Rome 2 is a match-three puzzler with this strange empire building concept. You match three or more icons to clear them, and the objective is to clear all the dark blocks. Meanwhile, making those matches earns you resources like food and water, which you can use to grow a settlement. Wait, what? To start with the puzzles, this is pretty familiar stuff. You can swap any icon with an adjacent match. There are, like, a million puzzle games like this. And in terms of the puzzles themselves, there’s not much separating this one from all those others. The empire building, on the other hand, is the game’s main gimmick. You can use resources you earn for solving puzzles to buy new buildings and structures for your city...at least, someday you can. Earning enough resources to afford one takes an extremely long time. Lots of level grinding, lots of repetition. So eventually, I mean...I just wanted to ask, “What’s the point?” To me, this whole aspect of the game felt pointless and silly. It’s always nice to see a game add some interesting new twist, but this is like...eh, whatever. The only thing I actually liked about that aspect of the game is that you also get these bonus items for unlocking new structures. You might get an axe, for example, and that allows you to break through tiles that are chained up. That way, you can open them without making a match. Items like that actually make the puzzles more interesting. Building a town? I don’t know. Not so much. Jewel Master: Cradle Of Rome 2 just doesn’t do anything interesting enough to be worthwhile to anyone but the most devout puzzler fan. If you’re a casual gamer who owns a 3DS, this might be worth a look. Otherwise, leave this empire to fall.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to that of Bejeweled; the player must flip jewels/resources on a playing field to create matches of at least three items of the same type. As matches are formed, reserves of resources such as grain and wood are built up, which are used towards building the Roman Empire.[1] Between rounds, resources can be spent on farms, taverns and other buildings to cultivate the commonwealth. The goal of each round is to form matches on blue tiles to clear them from the screen. Obstacles increase the game's difficulty; they include locked gems/resources, which cannot be switched until a match is made to unlock them. Each round also has a time limit, which is represented by a slowly emptying vase of water on the top screen. To help the player, several power-ups can be acquired, such as a hammer that can destroy any tile on the field. The game progresses with new types of gems and resources being unlocked at every new building built in Rome. Some buildings provide an extra bonus citizen with in-game bonuses if the player plays skillfully with the particular resource unlocked from that building.[1]
Reception
Cradle of Rome was given a mixed reception by video game critics, and it received an aggregated score of 63% at Metacritic.[2] IGN was disappointed with the game, noting that the game's manual did not adequately explain how the game worked. They also found that its electronic soundtrack did not fit the game's Roman theme. Their review gave the game a score of 5.9 of 10 and suggested that players purchase better alternatives such as The Quest Trio, stating, "It's another match-three game. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's been done better before."[1] Game Informer gave it a 6.75 with the subheading "MORE LIKE CRADLE OF BORING" in Game Informer Issue 189 January 2009.[3]
Rome Puzzle
Cradle of Rome was originally developed from an Awem Studios game by the name Rome Puzzle. This game was intended to be a casual game and many websites hosted and are currently the game as 'play online for free' - Rome Puzzle version. The Rome Puzzle version was developed and revamped before being published as Cradle of Rome by D3.
References
- ^ a b c "Cradle of Rome Review". IGN. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ "Cradle of Rome". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ Biessener, Adam. "Cradle of Rome". Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
External links
This page was last edited on 20 April 2023, at 13:11