Review: Kurulin Fusion

Posted by Chris K on February 5th, 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags: Kurulin Fusion

Puzzle games and portable systems seem to go hand in hand. So when a new puzzle game is released, it has to stick out from the crowd. Kurulin Fusion is your standard color match puzzle game. What it has that tries makes it different are the music and the fusion block gameplay.

So basically you have two types of puzzle pieces, orbs and fusion blocks. If an orb touches a fusion block of the same color it will disappear, along with any other same colored orbs that it is touching. You can “fuse” the fusion blocks together to form a bigger and bigger block that will add a higher multiplier to the score. The game is as simple is that. What you really want to do it arrange your blocks in a way that when they fuse orbs will drop onto fusion blocks adding a chain bonus to your score. You can also hold on to a piece that you may think will come in handy later. This really helps when playing in the Mission mode.

Another big point about this game is the music. The score was arranged by famed Final Fantasy composer, Nobuo Uematsu. All of the songs are remixed versions of classic tunes by Bach. Each of them is unique, and certainly fits the games futuristic art-style.

While the game’s core elements are easy to understand, the game is actually fairly tough due to some balancing issues. When playing in arcade mode there will be random times when the action speeds up. The speed ramp up is so severe that if you don’t act fairly quick, you will have a stack of blocks you will have no clue how to fuse. If you survive the onslaught the game will slow back down again and you can catch your breath. The ramp up speed for when going up a stage also seems just a tad too fast for my liking. I also wasn’t really a fan of having to save the game manually. I had completed almost all of the mission mode and turned my PSP off thinking that the game would save it for me. When I turned my PSP back on I was far from trilled, seeing that I would have to complete all of that over again.

While Kurulin Fusion has it flaws, if you are a fan of puzzle games you will certainly find something to like out of it. The game is easy to learn, but do to some pacing issues may not be for everyone. While it may not be the best puzzle game, for the price you will certainly find enjoyment. If you are a fan of Uematsu’s previous work or even Bach, downloading it for the music is not out of the question.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation Portable version of the game.