Klax (video game): Difference between revisions

This article is about the video game. For KLAX, see Klax (video game) (disambiguation).

Klax
File:Klax-arcadescreenshot.png Screenshot of Klax
Developer(s)	Atari Games
Publisher(s)	Atari Games
Designer(s)	Dave Akers, Mark Stephen Pierce
Platform(s)	Various
Release	1989
Genre(s)	computer puzzle game
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously

Klax is a 1989 computer puzzle game designed by Dave Akers and Mark Stephen Pierce. The object is to line up colored blocks into rows of similar colors to make them disappear, similar to Columns. Atari Games originally released it as a coin-op followup to Tetris, which was tangled in a legal dispute at the time.

History

Akers programmed Klax in just a few weeks using Amiga Basic, then ported it line-by-line to C. In a 1990 interview, he said he wanted to "produce something playable, compact and relatively quick to develop." His influences were both Tetris and Tic-Tac-Toe. He chose the name from the sound tiles make rolling across the screen.

The prototype game ran on the same hardware as Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters.

Atari released Klax in February 1990, and soon called it a "major arcade hit". Atari quickly released several home versions under the Tengen brand. Akers created the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Mega Drive editions himself. Some 16-bit conversions featured improved graphics.

The original U.S. Klax arcade game shows an ad for "The Official Klax T-Shirt" for $11.95 sent to Atari Games' headquarters in Milpitas, CA. The shirts are now considered a rarity. 'Klax also received the Parents' Choice Foundation's seal of approval in 1990 and won Best Mind Game at the 1991 European Computer Leisure Awards. Also, the Chicago Tribune's Dennis Lynch named it the Best Cartridge of 1990.

Midway Games gained the rights to Klax upon purchasing Atari in 1996. The title has been re-released in retro compilations for modern consoles. A 1999 press release called it Midway's "tic-tac tile puzzle game."[1]

Klax's catchphrase. "It is the nineties and there is time for Klax," which appears during the game's attract mode, became a fad in Chicagoland hipster areas, such as Wicker Park, in 2001 -- and later found a berth on college campuses. Curiously, the 2005 GBA version still tells players "it is the nineties..."

Gameplay

Klax features a conveyor belt at the top of the screen. It constantly rolls toward the well-like playing area, delivering a steady supply of colored blocks. The player controls a small device which sits at the interface between the conveyor belt and the playing area. By moving this left and right, the player can catch the blocks and deposit them in the playing area.

Failure to catch any block results in it falling down the gap between the conveyor belt and playing area and one drop being used. Once all of the drops are used, the player is given a chance to continue. Otherwise, the game ends. (In the original coin-op, the game ends when all drops are used.)

At the beginning of the game, the player can choose to start at level 1 and get 3 drops; level 6 with a bonus of 100,000 points and 4 drops; or at level 11 with a bonus of 200,000 points and 5 drops. At the end of every 5 level section, the player gets the same choice, except that the no bonus choice is the next level, the 100,000 bonus is 5 levels ahead and the 200,000 bonus 10 levels ahead.

The block-catching device can hold up to five blocks at any time, in the form of a stack. It can also eject the uppermost block a short distance back up the conveyor belt; this can, however, be a risky move if not judged correctly, for a block might land directly beside another coming down, making it difficult or impossible to catch both at the same time.

In the playing area, blocks can be eliminated in the same manner as in Columns: by getting three or more of the same colour in a line. Each one of these finished groupings are called a "Klax". As well as the standard colour blocks, there is also a multicoloured flashing block which can be used as any colour.

The player advances to the next level through one of several methods, depending on the level. Each 5 level sequence usually has one level where you just have to get a certain number of Klaxes, usually a multiple of 5. Then there is a level where you have to get a certain number of diagonal Klaxes, usually a multiple of 3. Then there is usually a level where you have to survive a certain number of falling tiles. Then there is usually a level where you have to score a certain number of points. Finally, there is a level where you have to get so many horizontal Klaxes. If you group 4 or 5 similar tiles together, it counts as more than 1 Klax.

There are 100 levels in Klax, and a score of 250,000 is required to complete the last level. The unreleased Atari 7800 version added three "impossible" levels.

Some levels allow the player to warp ahead 45 levels if they build a large X with five blocks for each diagonal. Doing so awards a 500,000 point bonus (plus any due warp bonus).

Scoring

Scoring can vary between versions.

Scoring During Play

• Vertical-3: 50 points
• Vertical-4: 10,000 points
• Vertical-5: 12,000 - 50,000 points (usually 15,000)
• Horizontal-3: 1,000 points
• Horizontal-4: 2,000 - 5,000 points (usually 5,000)
• Horizontal-5: 6,000 - 10,000 points (usually 10,000)
• Diagonal-3: 5,000 points
• Diagonal-4: 10,000 points
• Diagonal-5: 20,000 points

A player also earns a multiplier for creating multiple Klaxs and combinations. Multipliers can take effect in two variations. Most commonly, a player receives a bonus multiplier for each Klax created, which continues if you create a combination. For example, if a player makes a vertical-3 and a diagonal-4 at the same time, the score is 50 + 5,000 = 5,050 * 2 = 10,100 points. If the player then combos into a diagonal-3, the player receives 5,000 * 3 = 15,000 points.

The second variation is that the player receives a bonus multiplier only if the player creates a combination. This multiplier increases only by one in each combo iteration.

Bonuses

• Empty stack: 200 points per empty space (maximum of 5,000 points)
• Tiles not placed: 0-25 points per tile (usually 25 points)
• Exceeding required points a in points wave: 0-1 points per point over (usually 1 point)

Ports

After the arcade version, Klax saw ports to most contemporary video game systems of the 1990s:

• The Atari 2600 version of Klax was the last licensed game ever officially released for the 2600 system.
• Klax was the first game with versions for all three of 1990's leading consoles, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Genesis and the NEC TurboGrafx-16.
• Klax was included in "Arcade Party Pak" for the PlayStation. The game was also reissued in Midway Arcade Treasures, a 2003 compilation for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC.
• MAME emulates several arcade versions of Klax, including a prototype.
• Interestingly, the Genesis version was released in Japan by Namco, while the Game Boy and NES versions were released in Japanese by Hudson Soft.
• Atari Games said in 1990 that Klax was designed for players 13 years and older. That year, the suggested U.S. retail price for the console version was $39.95.
• Midway licensed the interactive TV rights to Klax to RuneCraft in 2001.

Consoles

• Amstrad GX4000
• Atari 2600 (1990)
• Atari 7800 (1992) (completed but never released)[2]
• Microsoft Xbox
• MSX (1990)
• Nintendo Entertainment System (1990)
• Nintendo GameCube
• Sega Master System (1991)
• Sega Mega Drive (1991)
• PlayStation (Arcade Party Pak),
• PlayStation 2
• TurboGrafx-16 (1990)

Computers

• Atari ST (1990)
• Commodore Amiga (1990)
• Amstrad CPC (1990)
• Commodore 64 (1990)
• Intel x86 (Microsoft DOS) (1992) (part of Domark's Tengen's Arcade Hits Collection)
• Intel x86 (Microsoft Windows)
• SAM Coupé (1991)
• ZX Spectrum (1990)

Handhelds

• Atari Lynx (1990)
• Nintendo Game Boy (1990)
• Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2005, along with Marble Madness In Midway Arcade Treasures)
• Nintendo Game Boy Color (1999)
• Sega Game Gear (1992)
• Sony PSP

Gallery

• Atari Lynx port
  Atari Lynx port
• Game Boy port
  Game Boy port
• SAM Coupé port
  SAM Coupé port

External links

• Reprinted manual from Tengen's version of Klax.
• Klax Review (Atari Lynx)
• Klax at the Killer List of Videogames
• Midway's Klax page, includes screenshots.
• Klax at MobyGames
• Klax at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
• Klax page located at NES HQ (includes screenshots, FAQs, manuals, and more).