''Klax'' is a

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

released in arcades in 1990 by

Atari Games Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade video games, active from 1985 to 1999, then as Midway Games West Inc. until 2003. It was formed when the coin-operated video game division of Atari, Inc. was transferred by its owner Wa ...

while

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

distributed the game in Japanese markets. It was designed and animated by Mark Stephen Pierce with the software engineering done by Dave Akers. The object is to catch colored blocks tumbling down a machine and arrange them in colored rows and patterns to make them disappear. ''Klax'' was originally published as a

coin-op A currency detector or currency validator is a device that determines whether notes or coins are genuine or counterfeit. These devices are used in a wide range of automated machines, such as retail kiosks, supermarket self checkout machines, ar ...

follow-up to ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...

'', about which Atari Games was in a legal dispute at the time. The

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

version, released in mid 1990, and ''

Fatal Run ''Fatal Run'' is a 1990 post-apocalyptic-themed vehicular combat game developed by Sculptured Software for the Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 and published by Atari Corporation. Along with '' Klax'', this was the last game Atari officially released ...

'', are the final releases for the console which was discontinued in early 1992.

Gameplay

Controls consist of a four-position

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

and a button. The player controls a small paddle at the lower end of a constantly running

conveyor belt A conveyor belt is the carrying medium of a belt conveyor system (often shortened to a belt conveyor). A belt conveyor system consists of two or more pulleys (sometimes referred to as drums), with a closed loop of carrying medium—the conveyor b ...

. Using the joystick, the player can move the paddle left or right to catch tiles in various colors as they advance down the conveyor. Below the paddle is a well that can hold up to 25 tiles in five columns of five; pressing the button causes the topmost tile on the paddle to fall directly downward and into the well, as long as that column is not full. The goal is to form "Klaxs", or unbroken horizontal/vertical/diagonal lines containing three tiles of the same color. Doing so awards points and causes those tiles to disappear, allowing any tiles above them to fall toward the bottom of the well. Bonus points are awarded for completing multiple Klaxs with a single tile (including lines of four or five matching tiles) and for Klaxs formed by the falling of already-placed tiles. The paddle can hold up to five tiles at any given moment. The player is penalized with one "drop" whenever a tile falls off the conveyor without being caught or while the paddle is full. Pushing up on the joystick will flip the topmost tile on the paddle a short distance up the conveyor, while pulling down accelerates the motion of the tiles. The game consists of 100 waves, presented as 20 groups of five waves each. At the start of the game and after every fifth wave, the drop meter is cleared and the player is presented with three options of which wave to play next; choosing a later wave awards bonus points and allows more drops. Each wave has an objective that must be reached, such as making a set number of Klaxs, scoring a certain number of points, or surviving a set number of tiles. At the end of a wave, bonus points are awarded for each tile still on the conveyor and paddle and for each empty space in the well. The game ends when the player either exhausts the available drops, completely fills the well, or finishes all 100 waves.

Development

Akers programmed ''Klax'' in just a few weeks using AmigaBASIC, then ported each line to C. In a 1990 interview, he said he wanted to "produce something playable, compact and relatively quick to develop". His influences were ''

'' and

tic-tac-toe Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian English, Canadian or Hiberno-English, Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who ta ...

. He chose the name from the sound tiles make rolling across the screen. Atari Games released ''Klax'' in February 1990, with

releasing the game in Japan a few months later, and soon called it a "major arcade hit". It quickly released several home versions under the Tengen brand. Akers created the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

and

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

editions. Some 16-bit conversions feature improved graphics. ''Klax'' received the Parents' Choice Foundation's seal of approval in 1990, won Best Mind Game at the 1991 European Computer Leisure Awards, and Dennis Lynch of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' named ''Klax'' the Best Cartridge of 1990.

Midway Games Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (franchise), Ra ...

gained the rights to ''Klax'' upon purchasing Atari Games in 1996. The game has been re-released in retro compilations for modern consoles. A 1999 press release called it Midway's "tic-tac tile puzzle game". Mike Mika, who was working on the

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

version of the game, placed a hidden wedding proposal inside it. It took his then girlfriend three years to uncover the proposal. Mike Mika also inserted a hidden ''

Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

''-like game and a mini-adventure game as

easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

. After the arcade version, ''Klax'' was converted to most contemporary home computers and video game systems of the 1990s, including the

Atari Lynx The Atari Lynx is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth-generation handheld game console, hand-held game console released by Atari Corporation in September 1989 in North America and 1990 in Europe and Japan. It was the first handhe ...

Amstrad Amstrad plc was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its Home computer, home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the ...

GX4000 The Amstrad GX4000 is a short-lived home video game console developed and marketed by Amstrad. It was released exclusively in Europe in September 1990, and was the company's only attempt at entering the console market. As part of the Third gener ...

and the

as its final official Atari-licensed release exclusively in Europe. The

Atari 7800 The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it the ...

version was programmed by David Dentt, who also worked on ''

Ninja Golf ''Ninja Golf'' is an Atari 7800 video game which combines a beat 'em up and golf. It was programmed by David A. Dentt and David R. Sullivan of BlueSky Software and published by Atari Corporation in 1990 as one of the last releases for the consol ...

'' for the same console. ''Klax'' is the first game with versions for all three of the leading 1990s consoles: the

, the

, and the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

. ''Klax'' was included in ''Arcade Party Pak'' for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

. It was reissued in ''

Midway Arcade Treasures ''Midway Arcade Treasures'' is a video-game compilation of 24 arcade games, emulated from the original printed circuit board, PCBs. The compilation was developed by Digital Eclipse and issued by Midway Games, Midway for the PlayStation 2, Xbox (c ...

'', a 2003 compilation for the

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

, and PC. It appears in ''

Lego Dimensions ''Lego Dimensions'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure platform crossover video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Wii U. ...

''.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Klax'' in its April 1, 1990 issue as being the seventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month. On release, ''

Famicom Tsūshin , formerly , is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special to ...

'' awarded the PC Engine version 30 out of 40. ''Klax'' was ranked the 26th best game of all time by ''

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. History The first issue of ''Amiga Power'' was publi ...

'' in 1991. The NES version is ranked 44 in ''IGN''s Top 100 NES Games. In a capsule review of the Lynx version for ''

STart Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

'',

Clayton Walnum Clayton Walnum is a programmer who has written multiple books about programming in C#, DirectX and C++. Clayton Walnum started programming computers in 1982, when he traded an IBM Selectric typewriter to buy an Atari 400 computer with 16K of RA ...

commended the game in aspects of gameplay, graphics, music, sound effects and speech. Julian Rignall reviewed the Atari Lynx version for ''CVG Magazine'' in January 1991, saying "the game is simple, but very, very addictive" and giving a rating of 93 out of 100.

References

External links

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