4.8 /10 1 Votes
Designer(s) Jamie Morton Developer Core Design Platform PlayStation Portable | 4.8/10 Initial release date 10 May 2005 Publisher Eidos Interactive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genres Strategy video game, Puzzle video game Modes Single-player video game, Multiplayer video game Similar Eidos Interactive games, Puzzle video games |
Smart Bomb is a timed puzzle video game for the PSP developed by Core Design. It was one of the first video games to be released on the PSP and was at first set to be a big game, yet many control flaws and repetition of levels meant that it was a relatively low selling game.
Contents
The aim of the game is to defuse a bomb on the screen while the timer counts down, each level is divided into tiers that get closer to the core of the bomb and once successfully defused the player moves on to the next level.
Gameplay
The player is a member of a fictitious Counter Terrorist Unit, who must defuse bombs found in various locations. Each bomb is rigged with a number of puzzles that all must be completed before the timer on the bomb goes off, and thus ending the game.
The player may select the order of the puzzles within each bomb to attempt. There are several different types of puzzles available in the game, including:
While working with these puzzles, special bonuses will pop up and can be collected if the player is fast enough. These power-ups include score bonuses and extra time for completing all the puzzles within the bomb.
There are also special optional puzzles that can also be completed for bonuses.
Reception
Smart Bomb has received moderate scores from reviews, with only a 45/100 from cumulative reviews on Metacritic and 49% for cumulative reviews on GameRankings. IGN states that the game is "aimed at being as fast-paced and frantic as WarioWare, but it's too top-heavy with complex puzzles instead of quick brain-teasers". GameSpot notes several technical issues with the game, and that the "presentation aspects of the game are broken, and the sluggish control and short timers simply don't mix."