(Last edited March 4, 2008)

Coming off my first game review of Bejeweled, I feel that it would be unfair to mention Bejeweled and not mention the even more addictive sequel, Bejeweled2. Again, Bejeweled2 is also one of my favorites games that I like to play.

Bejeweled2

If you haven’t heard of Bejeweled2, (and who hasn’t?), you’ll hear about it here. I will attempt to provide somewhat of an idea of what this game is like. And let me warn you that it’s EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE. The predecessor, Bejeweled! was already a very popular and addictive game but let me tell you that this sequel to the popular game is EVEN MORE ADDICTIVE and totally blows the original Bejeweled out of the water!

The object of the game is quite simple. Clear the board of as many gems as possible to reach the next stage or level before the time runs out or there are no remaining moves left. To clear the gems off the board you need to create a row of three or more matching gems horizontally or vertically. You are allowed to swap the position of two gems located next to each other if doing so will create a row of three matching gems. Attempting to swap two gems that doesn’t create a row of 3 matching gems will only have the game swap them back. Attempting to swap two gems that aren’t next to one another also won’t work.

Depending on the row that is cleared, the gems will fall to fill in the void left by the gems previously cleared. So, if you clear a vertical row of 3 matching gems, the gems located directly above it will fill into the 3 empty spaces along with new gems at the top. If you clear a horizontal row, the gems directly above them will fall by one to fill in the one empty space. So, in many ways, it’s quite a strategic game (if you try to calculate possible next moves) as well as a simple game of tapping and clearing rows of 3 or more matching gems. So this game can appeal to a wide range of people. And it’s SO ADDICTIVE because it’s so simple and challenging at the same time.

As you can see, the board is filled with 8 rows of 8 various color and shapes of jewels or gems. There are seven different shape and color of gems that are randomly placed on the board. They are: red and square, silver and round, yellow and square, blue and diamond shaped, green and octagon, orange and hexagon and purple triangle.

If you clear a row of 4 matching gems, you will clear the 3 gems off the board, leaving the 4th gem to be transformed into a Power Gem, which seems to sparkle and glow brighter than normal gems or jewels. If the Power Gem is amongst the row of 3 matching gems that gets cleared, the Power Gem will explode, clearing the surrounding gems around it off the board as well.

If you are lucky or good and attempt to match a row of 5 matching gems, you will create a Hyper Cube. The Hyper Cube looks like a swirling silver gem. Simply tap on the Hyper Cube and then select a gem. A lightning bolt will then eminate from the Hyper Cube to “zap” out all the similar gems on the board to what you’ve tapped. So, if you tapped on the Hyper Cube and then tapped on a green octagon gem, then, all the octagon gems will be zapped and removed off the board. This is quite a sight to see if you ever achieve this because it looks quite cool.

Special Gems

In addition to the gems I’ve described, there are some extra special gems that may show up in the game, depending on the mode you are playing, the length of the game play and other factors.

Rocks are NOT “gems”. As such, you can’t form any matches like you can with gems, although you can swap them with gems to make gem matches as usual. To get rid of rocks, you will need to use either a Power Gem, Hyper Cube or Time Bomb.

Time Bombs are black and spiky, with a counter on their front. This counter will go down as you make matches. When it reaches the value of 1, the bomb will start shaking to show that it’s about to go off. The next match you make will cause it to explode and destroy all surrounding objects around it.

Play Modes

There are four play modes: Classic, Endless, Puzzle and Action.

The Classic mode is very similar to the classic playing of Bejeweled, clearing the board and getting new ones when a stage is completed.

The Action mode stresses on the time. There will always be at least one move you can make, but the timer bar located at the bottom will move to the left and move faster as time passes. You need to make matches as quickly as possible to fill up the timer bar (move it to the right) and when it reaches to the far right, filling it, you will progress to the next stage or level.

If you tap on the “?” button, which is the “Hint” button, the game will flash a triangle arrow on the piece that can be swapped to make a match, but doing so will cost you valuable time.

The Endless mode will allow you to keep playing forever, allowing you to never lose the game as there’s always at least one move available. This can originally seem boring but as you continue playing, you will start noticing other interesting objects appearing to make it challenging.

The Puzzle mode comes up with an arrangement of gems that, if you strategically make matches, will clear all the gems off the board. But, if you make the wrong move, you will not be able to achieve this objective. So, careful planning and strategic thinking is what’s required in this mode. There is no timer for this mode.

Game Options

In the main menu, there are various settings and options you can set.

The Tips Game option allows you to determine whether or not to show the dialog boxes containing hints and tips about how to play Bejeweled 2.

The Hint Sparkles controls whether there will be hints displayed onscreen. If this is enabled (the default), then if you do not make a move for a few seconds, a gem will show a brief sparkle to indicate a hint on a potential match if swapped. Unlike asking for a hint, the automatic hint system will never cost you points or time.

The Transparency slider under the Graphics settings allows you to alter the transparency of the game board. Setting it to the far left will give a completely transparent board, while the right edge of the slider will produce an opaque board.

Screensaver Settings

The Select Screensaver button allows you to change the Screensaver mode. The choices are: None, Demo (automated play), and Slideshow (will cycle through the different backgrounds). The Slideshow setting does not appear in Bejeweled 2 Lite, as the Lite version only has the one background to reduce the filesize and memory requirements.

The Slideshow speed setting allows you to control how quickly the background will switch to a new one in Slideshow mode.

The Select Clock button allows you to set whether the Screensaver clock appears or not (Default is On). If the clock is enabled, it will appear in the top right corner. You can move it around the screen by dragging it with the stylus and place it wherever you want. You can also use the “>” button to advance the Screensaver to the next screen (which can be either a new set of gems, or a new background depending on the mode). The “X” button allows you to quit from the Screensaver mode and return to the main menu.

Start Screensaver allows you to manually start the Screensaver. You can only use this option while on the title screen, the Screensaver may not be enabled while playing the game.

Hidden Features

Bejeweled 2 features several hidden game modes.

Original mode is the original Bejeweled with none of the new special gems. To unlock it, play keep playing Classic mode exclusively.

Hyper mode is very similar to Action mode. To unlock it you will need to play with lightning reflexes in Action mode at high levels.

Cognito mode is only available to those who can solve every puzzle offered in the Puzzle Mode. In Cognito mode, the colours are different and you score points for each move you make. But, when you ask for a hint in Cognito mode, you will not score any further points for the rest of that puzzle.

Finity mode can be unlocked by extensive play in Endless mode. In Finity mode, you have a timer bar much like in Action mode, but power gems, rocks and timebombs can drop in from the top as well as normal gems. Also, in Finity mode, you will only score points by making chain reactions, called “cascades”. Single matches will produce no points in this mode.

Twilight mode can be activated by making a a circle with the stylus in a clockwise direction around the purple mode buttons on the title screen, touching each in turn. You may need to circle several times before it activates. Twilight mode is very similar to Classic mode, except that gems can fall from both the top and the bottom of the screen.

With the trial demo, you can play 5 games of Bejeweled2 for free. At the 6th and subsequent launch of the program, a pop up message will remind you to register your copy. Also, I believe that there is also a cap on the levels you can reach in demo mode.

Memory requirements and compatibility notes

Bejeweled 2 requires quite a lot of memory in order to run smoothly. As I’ve indicated in a past posting on memory, you may want to try using something like PowerRun or MSMount5. Or, you can download and play Bejeweled 2 Lite, a much smaller sized file that is less graphics intensive optimized for devices with less dynamic heap memory. More information on Bejeweled 2 Lite, and download instructions, can be found at Astraware’s knowledgebase article

Sound effects and music may not be compatible with some models of Sony CLIÉ. Please refer to this Astraware knowledgebase article for more info.

This product is not compatible with the Zire 21, Zire 31, Z22, Treo 600, Qool QDA 700, PiTech W300 or any Palm OS handheld without at least a 320×320 screen.

This game supports both 320×320 and 320×480 modes for all compatible devices.

Simulation of Bejeweled2

Alternative links: ImageShack, YesAlbum

The simulation will play through to the end unless I’ve inserted a pop up note to explain specific points.

To continue playing the simulation, press the button.
To go back to a previous paused segment, click on the button.
To pause the simulation at any time, press the button. To continue after it’s paused, press the button again.

To scroll forward or backward in the simulation, click anywhere on the left (to go back earlier in the simulation), or right (to go forward in the simulation) on the progress bar.

This simulation shows a brief overview of the options and screens in the game

This simulation will show briefly how to swap adjacent gems and how a match of three gems are cleared off the board

This simulation will show how matching 4 gems will create a Power Gem

This simulation shows the starting of the next stage or level and what the Hyper Cube looks like and does.

Alternative links: ImageShack, YesAlbum

This simulation shows how it looks like when you progress to the next level.

This simulation shows the end of the game when there are no remaining moves left.

If you still haven’t tried this fun, and exciting game yet, I’d strongly suggest you give it try. I think you won’t be disappointed. Here’s a link to the download for Bejeweled2 again.

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