4cr Review – Honeycomb Beat (DS)

I remember when I was younger, I picked up one of those Tiger “Lights Out” toys. The premise was simple; There was a grid of buttons, some of which were lit up. Your goal was to get all the lights to go out by pressing the correct sequence of buttons. Whenever you pressed a button all adjacent buttons that were lit went out, and any that were already out became illuminated. Only by finding the correct sequence of these buttons could you get all of the lights out and move on to the next puzzle. I loved the thing. I used to drag it wherever I went. Before Lights Out, I had been playing Tetris on my old Gameboy whenever I would go anywhere. After Lights Out, the game was my world. So, what does this old Tiger Electronics game have to do with Nintendo DS? Read on, my friend.

Honeycomb Beat is a puzzle game from Hudson. The premise is much like that Lights Out game. You have to press the hex “buttons” to get all of them to “turn off.” In other words, get them to turn white. The main difference between the two games is that instead of being laid out in a grid, the buttons are laid out in a honeycomb shape. Once you solve one puzzle, it opens up more, also in a honeycomb type shape.

There are two game modes in Honeycomb Beat. The first one (and the one I have played the most of) is the very uniquely titled “Puzzle mode.” Puzzle mode is just like the Lights Out game I mentioned before. You tap on your hexes to get all of the hexes on the play field to go out. The game starts out very easy. You’ll start the first dozen or two puzzles and wonder to yourself “is this it?” Trust me, the game gets much harder. Once you get into locked hexes and the like, you’ll be in for a frustratingly sweet treat.

The other mode (which admittedly I haven’t played much) is Evolution mode. In Evolution mode, rows of hexes rise from the bottom of the screen to the top. It is your goal to clear lines of hexes in order to get the line to disappear. You are rushing against time to do so, as once the rows reach the top of the screen, its game over. From what little of this mode I have played, I have to say it’s pretty addicting itself, although not quite as much as the Puzzle mode.

Honeycomb Beat is a perfect example of a great handheld game. It’s something you can pick up and play for a few minutes or a few hours. I am a huge fan of puzzle games, and Honeycomb Beat really doesn’t disappoint. And for $20, you can’t go wrong. While I may not have received a cool press item from Hudson (there’s still time, guys!), I still want to say that this is a terrific game that no puzzle fan should pass up. I am not a fan of numerical scores for games, so this one just gets a thumbs up from me.