Super Bounce Out!
                    Part of SynTax CD 2

                      Reviewed by Sue

This is tricky game from the producers of Super Nisqually and
other Gamehouse Games which have been reviewed in previous issues
of SynTax. Like those too, it can be played online or downloaded
from the Gamehouse site and the unregistered version can be played
19 times before it stops functioning. Unusually you can only play
4 levels per session, then you must exit and reload.

The aim of the game is to clear balls from the screen by swapping
two adjacent ones in order to line them up in rows of three or
more. Like Tetris and similar games, lined up balls vanish and the
ones above drop. If these subsequent balls line up, they also
vanish, setting off a chain reaction.

On each level you have to clear a specified number of balls to
continue to the next one. On level one, it's 50, on level two 75,
on level three 100 and on level four 125.  While you're playing
the fuse on a stick of dynamite burns away. If it burns out before
you've finished, it's game over time as the whole screen vibrates
and all the balls "boing!" into oblivion.

To add to the complication, there are black balls which you cannot
shift. Thankfully there's a Pause button and you can also press a
Panic button once a game which makes a move for you by swapping
two balls. It may get you moving again.  The number of moves
remaining is displayed. If it's a high number, this is
encouraging. If it gets to one or two, press the Panic button
quickly! And yes, you can get to the stage when there just aren't
any valid moves but if that happens, all the black balls vanish
which will often help you on your way to completing the level. So
it isn't such a disaster as it might sound. As each level
progresses, more and more black balls appear to add to the
confusion.

A few hints - I found the time very tight so tried to swap balls
on one side of the screen one move, then the other side the next.
A chain reaction is less likely to mess up your plans if you do it
that way and you can look ahead to your next move.

As you plan your next move, click on one ball ready and hover
your mouse over the one you want to swap it with. The game won't
let you click ahead, but you will at least be ready when the balls
stop moving.

The lower down the screen you swap balls, the more of a chain
reaction that is likely to happen but as the reaction moves up the
screen, you can probably find your next move at the bottom.

Getting rid of 50 balls isn't hard. 75 is more difficult and 100
darn near impossible.  The only way I could clear the fourth level
was to go onto Easy mode which seemed a bit like cheating! Good
fun but I wouldn't bother to register because I honestly don't
think I'd ever get further with it than I have so far to make it
worthwhile.

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