Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Columns (Video Game)

 Columns (Video Game)
type
TVTItem
 Columns (Video Game)
label
Columns (Video Game)
 Columns (Video Game)
page
Columns
 Columns (Video Game)
comment
Back in the time of the Classic Console War, Sega's answer to the mighty Tetris was 1989's Columns: the Ur-Example of the Match-Three Game.In it, coloured gems come down from the top of the screen in columns of three: you cannot change their orientation, but you can shuffle the three gems around in their column. The objective is to line up gems in groups of three or more, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally.Compare Puyo Puyo, which also has the player matching same-colored falling "blocks" and would later be acquired by Sega.
 Columns (Video Game)
fetched
2024-02-25T23:52:30Z
 Columns (Video Game)
parsed
2024-02-25T23:52:30Z
 Columns (Video Game)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Columns (Video Game) / int_12f70f7b
type
Regional Bonus
 Columns (Video Game) / int_12f70f7b
comment
Regional Bonus: The US version of the arcade original has an alternate gameplay BGM that can be used by changing one of the DIP switches. It went on to make a second appearance in Columns II, which was released in Japan only.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_12f70f7b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_12f70f7b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_12f70f7b
 Columns (Video Game) / int_1aa08f77
type
Multiple Endings
 Columns (Video Game) / int_1aa08f77
comment
Multiple Endings: In Columns III, only by choosing the Hard entrance you get to the ending where your character finds the treasure hidden in the pyramid. In the other two, you leave empty-handed. The standard ending of Stack Columns has the protagonist unable to find the truth behind his father's death. A No-Continue Run sees him finding his father alive... and accidentally causing apocalypse by defeating a magic baby.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_1aa08f77
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_1aa08f77
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_1aa08f77
 Columns (Video Game) / int_200c8312
type
Alternate Company Equivalent
 Columns (Video Game) / int_200c8312
comment
Alternate Company Equivalent: The game was very obviously Sega's answer to Tetris. It even came as a pack-in with the Game Gear, similarly to how the Game Boy came packaged with Tetris.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_200c8312
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_200c8312
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_200c8312
 Columns (Video Game) / int_3011ef28
type
Co-Op Multiplayer
 Columns (Video Game) / int_3011ef28
comment
Co-Op Multiplayer: Similar to the "doubles" modes of Tengen's Tetris and Tetris: The Grand Master, the Genesis port of the original game has one, although the well doesn't use extra-wide dimensions and players take turns dropping pieces instead of playing at the same time.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_3011ef28
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_3011ef28
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_3011ef28
 Columns (Video Game) / int_41d0e801
type
Endless Game
 Columns (Video Game) / int_41d0e801
comment
Endless Game: Expect to hit a lot of coincidental combos when you're getting near the top that send your blocks back down again. This game can go on for hours.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_41d0e801
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_41d0e801
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_41d0e801
 Columns (Video Game) / int_420ab7c6
type
Smart Bomb
 Columns (Video Game) / int_420ab7c6
comment
Smart Bomb: A flashing gem column will break every instance of the gem it is dropped upon. In the competitive games, only the middle gem does this while the now pointy ends are for attack or recovery instead.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_420ab7c6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_420ab7c6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_420ab7c6
 Columns (Video Game) / int_62259825
type
Nintendo Hard
 Columns (Video Game) / int_62259825
comment
Nintendo Hard: Detractors will be quick to point out that Columns is a beginner's game due to being able to make lucky chains through making the right match by accident. Now try setting up huge chains on purpose. While the first few levels are relatively tame, there's a huge difficulty increase near the final levels in Columns III. Starting from the Mimic, opponents play a lot smarter and faster than you.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_62259825
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_62259825
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_62259825
 Columns (Video Game) / int_70d8269d
type
Excuse Plot
 Columns (Video Game) / int_70d8269d
comment
Excuse Plot: The game tried to give the games a plot. Many versions even have a 'story mode.' The first game has some blurb in the instruction manual about it being a game played by jewel traders in the Near East or somesuch. Columns II has some vague plot about Time Travel, and that's it. Columns III has your character as an Adventurer Archaeologist attempting to find the treasure of the Pyramids. You battle bats, skeletons, scorpions, and mummies... once again by playing a Puzzle Game. Super Columns for the Game Gear has a plot about getting an amulet back from an evil merchant. You get past her minions by challenging them to the titular game.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_70d8269d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_70d8269d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_70d8269d
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7315fd38
type
Covers Always Lie
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7315fd38
comment
Covers Always Lie: There is a guy on the cover of Columns 3 for no reason. Trust us.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7315fd38
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7315fd38
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_7315fd38
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7b21ef92
type
Later-Installment Weirdness
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7b21ef92
comment
Later-Installment Weirdness: Columns III lacks a single-player Endless mode.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7b21ef92
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_7b21ef92
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_7b21ef92
 Columns (Video Game) / int_82accf22
type
Gainax Ending
 Columns (Video Game) / int_82accf22
comment
Gainax Ending: In the true (more likely bad) ending of Stack Columns, it turns out the protagonist's thought to be dead father is guarding some kind of ancient ageless baby. Upon defeat, this baby's cries end all life in the planet by turning the Earth's ocean into lava. The End. However if you had get lost and keep continue the game to finish, the normal ending is just the protagonist celebrate he/she being the Columns Champion, still wondering the truth on his/her father.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_82accf22
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_82accf22
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_82accf22
 Columns (Video Game) / int_8dc2b0f2
type
Hard Mode Perks
 Columns (Video Game) / int_8dc2b0f2
comment
Hard Mode Perks: In the original Columns, choosing Medium (start at level 5) or Hard (start at level 10) difficulty will give you a head start of 20,000 and 50,000 points, respectively.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_8dc2b0f2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_8dc2b0f2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_8dc2b0f2
 Columns (Video Game) / int_991912ca
type
Combos
 Columns (Video Game) / int_991912ca
comment
Combos: Jewels that are falling due to gravity can create groups of their own and create chain reactions that give you more points (as well as attack power for competitive modes). It's one of the first, if not the first, example in the Puzzle Game genre with this mechanic.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_991912ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_991912ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_991912ca
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9ceed28
type
Falling Blocks
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9ceed28
comment
Falling Blocks: Well, falling jewels, but still. Some games allowed you to change the jewels, to such things as dice, fruit, or mechanical parts.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9ceed28
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9ceed28
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_9ceed28
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9d6427ec
type
Time Travel
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9d6427ec
comment
Columns II has some vague plot about Time Travel, and that's it.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9d6427ec
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_9d6427ec
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_9d6427ec
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a1e5f790
type
Match-Three Game
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a1e5f790
comment
Match-Three Game: The Ur-Example. Other concepts like a match-three game involving jewels, popularized by Bejeweled, or competitive match-three games involving extensive use of chains, which Puyo Puyo is better known for, first appeared in Columns.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a1e5f790
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a1e5f790
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_a1e5f790
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a4c37cbe
type
Mood Whiplash
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a4c37cbe
comment
The standard ending of Stack Columns has the protagonist unable to find the truth behind his father's death. A No-Continue Run sees him finding his father alive... and accidentally causing apocalypse by defeating a magic baby.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a4c37cbe
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_a4c37cbe
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_a4c37cbe
 Columns (Video Game) / int_bbd8d3f4
type
Adventurer Archaeologist
 Columns (Video Game) / int_bbd8d3f4
comment
Columns III has your character as an Adventurer Archaeologist attempting to find the treasure of the Pyramids. You battle bats, skeletons, scorpions, and mummies... once again by playing a Puzzle Game.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_bbd8d3f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_bbd8d3f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_bbd8d3f4
 Columns (Video Game) / int_df11acbe
type
Artificial Brilliance
 Columns (Video Game) / int_df11acbe
comment
Artificial Brilliance: The AI in Columns III is noticeably better than it looks like, although it normally takes reaching the Mummy or The Sphinx to see the true extent of it. They are surprisingly decent at building chains at good speed for a game released in 1993, and they use their Crush Bar attacks and Magic Stones differently depending on how the match is going (even opponents with one-trick-pony AIs, such as the Scorpion, will change patterns when they are in danger of losing). Furthermore, they have a fairly believable reaction to the effects of Flashing Stones: they will wait until the whole piece is revealed when the Next piece is hidden (unless what they've already seen is useful), they take longer to move when the board is turned into grayscale, and they'll move slower when the board is upside-down.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_df11acbe
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_df11acbe
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_df11acbe
 Columns (Video Game) / int_f068cba
type
Oddball in the Series
 Columns (Video Game) / int_f068cba
comment
Oddball in the Series: Super Columns for the Game Gear allowed you to rotate the jewel columns into a row, as well as adjusting the order. The AI wasn't programmed to do this, giving you a bit of an advantage.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_f068cba
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_f068cba
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_f068cba
 Columns (Video Game) / int_fb09db1f
type
Video-Game Lives
 Columns (Video Game) / int_fb09db1f
comment
Video-Game Lives: Columns III featured the Hourglass of Time. If you lost against an enemy, you shatter the hourglass to warp back in time, and try again.
 Columns (Video Game) / int_fb09db1f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_fb09db1f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_fb09db1f
 Columns (Video Game) / int_name
type
ItemName
 Columns (Video Game) / int_name
comment
 Columns (Video Game) / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Columns (Video Game) / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Columns (Video Game) / int_name
 Columns (Video Game) / int_name
itemName
Columns (Video Game)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
American Video Games / int_f890fc6a
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
License-Added Game / int_f890fc6a
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Match-Three Game / int_f890fc6a
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Port Overdosed / int_f890fc6a
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Regional Bonus / int_f890fc6a
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Revenge of the Sequel / int_f890fc6a
 Columns (Video Game)
hasFeature
Video-Game Lives / int_f890fc6a