|
|
|
PIPE MANIA (AMI)
|
Publisher: Empire Interactive.
Developer: The Assembly Line. Released: June 1989. Genre: Puzzle. Other versions: AST; PC. Posted 23rd April 2021. By Tom Clare © 2021 |
|
It’s a little over thirty years since Pipe Mania first emerged on the Amiga and chances are, like many games from the period, The Assembly Line’s puzzler may now appear a little crude to our pampered, high-resolution adjusted eyes. I’d wager that in a further thirty years, this feeling will seem even more pronounced. Somehow though, whilst graphics may age at a quite terrifying rate, brilliant ideas enjoy an almost dreamlike stasis. Pipe Mania will still play brilliantly in another thirty years time. Just as it did in 1989, just as it does now.
With Tetris busily establishing itself as the stuff of symmetrist puzzle fans’ dreams, it’s understandable that Pipe Mania, releasing on a small pool of home computer platforms, would go about its business with more muted fanfare. Perhaps not a system seller by reputation alone, it did nevertheless garner effusive support from critics and gamers alike. PM offered something less common to the genre: tension and excitement. Few, if any, puzzle games can claim to have had players on the edge of their seats for so much of the experience, demanding coolness under pressure, creative ingenuity and problem-solving skills.
It's not about erasing blocks, but buidling networks. Pipe Mania remains a remarkably satisfying way to pass the time
As with all the best games of this kind, its premise is fiendishly simple. With a sequence of pipe segments of varying shapes and directions, the player must build a network on a 10x7 grid layout, extending it to a minimum target number of blocks and, in some of the trickier instances, connecting to an end pipe. No trouble at all, right? The thing is, once the first fifteen seconds or so has passed, liquid starts creeping through the pipes, whether you’re ready for it, or not. This is the cue for some memorably stress-inducing countdown music, the tempo increasing steadily as the level goes on. If it catches up, or you’ve failed to lay a connecting piece correctly, that marks the end of the stage.
As is to be expected, the further the player progresses, the quicker the liquid travels through the pipes. But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. You’ll encounter broken tiles, pipes that allow for only a single direction of travel and ever-increasing network length requirements that require winding around the board and in some cases, back through multi-directional piping.
As is to be expected, the further the player progresses, the quicker the liquid travels through the pipes. But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. You’ll encounter broken tiles, pipes that allow for only a single direction of travel and ever-increasing network length requirements that require winding around the board and in some cases, back through multi-directional piping.
|
|
Whilst Tetris and the army of block-dropper clones it would spawn tended to focus on short games that relied heavily on reactions and repeat runs for long-term play, Pipe Mania is built to last. Whilst failure is met with a Game Over, the successful completion of four straight levels rewards the player with a password, so there’s no need to restart the game each time. Just as well, as there are dozens of levels and as things start to get tougher, Pipe Mania becomes a quite mesmerising experience, a compulsive and endlessly satisfying test of the player’s faculties. Whilst a lot of puzzlers task the player with holding back the tide, erasing blocks, PM is all about creating and adapting. This means all of the levels are fun to tackle and rewarding to beat. The one-more-go factor is immensely strong.
What often begins as a quick, fifteen-minute blitz to unlock the next password, can so easily transform into a lengthy, all-consuming session. It gets pretty tough, but despite all the Game Overs, I was back in straight away. This is not a game you’ll master in a weekend, or finish in a few days. It’s a long term project, but for all that, it never feels daunting to jump back in. Enjoyment always comes first. In addition to the main game, there’s a training option that slows the process considerably, giving beginners an ideal means of learning how best to build their layouts. As well as a super-tough expert setting, there’s a delightfully creative two-player cooperative mode, where each player has control of their own selection of pieces, but must work together to build the pipeline. It seems unlikely on paper, but the co-op is a lot of fun.
What often begins as a quick, fifteen-minute blitz to unlock the next password, can so easily transform into a lengthy, all-consuming session. It gets pretty tough, but despite all the Game Overs, I was back in straight away. This is not a game you’ll master in a weekend, or finish in a few days. It’s a long term project, but for all that, it never feels daunting to jump back in. Enjoyment always comes first. In addition to the main game, there’s a training option that slows the process considerably, giving beginners an ideal means of learning how best to build their layouts. As well as a super-tough expert setting, there’s a delightfully creative two-player cooperative mode, where each player has control of their own selection of pieces, but must work together to build the pipeline. It seems unlikely on paper, but the co-op is a lot of fun.
|
|
Every four levels, you're rewarded with a password and a change of scenery. Things soon get pretty tough!
It’s virtually blemish-free. True, the UK box art, which features a pencil sketch of a man in significant pain, is as rubbish as it is peculiar. Lucasfilm’s US cover was far more befitting of the game’s style and quality, not that it matters. Clean, colourful visuals, a lovely attract screen and some memorable jingles ensure that, by the puzzle genre’s normally modest standards, PM fairs well on the presentation side of things. Let’s be honest though, it was never going to be Carrier Command in the polygon-pushing, visual bombast stakes. Nobody’s here for the production values. Pipe Mania is the thinking gamer’s dream, turning plumbing into a gaming art form that’s somehow simultaneously accessible, challenging and creatively satisfying. One of the best puzzle games there has ever been and one that has aged unbelievably well.
|
|
VERDICT
"Pipe Mania turns plumbing into a gaming art form that’s somehow simultaneously accessible, challenging and creatively satisfying. One of the best puzzle games there has ever been." OVERALL: 9/10 |