Klax (video game)

Did You Know?

• Akers programmed Klax in a few weeks using AmigaBASIC, then ported each line to C.
• The name Klax comes from the sound tiles make rolling across the screen.
• Akers cited Tetris and tic-tac-toe as influences.

Gameplay

The player uses a four-position joystick and a button to control a paddle at the bottom of a conveyor belt. Tiles of various colors move down the belt, and the paddle can be moved left or right to catch them. Pressing the button drops the topmost tile from the paddle into a five-column well that holds up to 25 tiles, provided the column is not full. The objective is to create Klaxs—unbroken horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines of three same-colored tiles—which disappear and award points, causing tiles above to fall. Bonus points are given for multiple Klaxs from one tile, lines of four or five, and Klaxs formed by falling tiles. The paddle holds up to five tiles; a tile lost off the conveyor or dropped while the paddle is full costs one drop. Pushing up on the joystick flips the top tile back up the belt, while pulling down speeds the tiles. The game has 100 waves in 20 groups of five. Every fifth wave clears the drop meter and offers three wave choices; later waves give bonus points and more drops. Each wave has a goal, such as a number of Klaxs, a score, or surviving a tile count. Wave-end bonuses come from tiles on the belt and paddle and empty well spaces. The game ends when drops run out, the well fills, or all 100 waves are completed.

Release

Atari Games launched Klax in arcades in February 1990, with Namco handling the Japanese release a few months later, and it quickly gained a reputation as a major arcade hit. Tengen published several home versions, with Akers handling the NES and Genesis ports; some 16-bit editions came with upgraded visuals. The game earned the Parents' Choice Foundation's seal of approval in 1990 and won Best Mind Game at the 1991 European Computer Leisure Awards. Dennis Lynch of the Chicago Tribune called it the Best Cartridge of 1990. Klax holds the distinction of being the first game available on all three major 1990s consoles: the NES, Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16. The Atari 2600 version, released only in Europe, was the console's final official Atari-licensed game. David Dentt, who also worked on Ninja Golf, programmed the Atari 7800 version. Midway Games acquired the rights in 1996, and a 1999 press release described it as Midway's "tic-tac tile puzzle game." Mike Mika, a developer on the Game Boy Color version, hid a wedding proposal, a Snake-like game, and a mini-adventure game as easter eggs. Klax later appeared in the Arcade Party Pak for PlayStation, the Midway Arcade Treasures compilation for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC, and in Lego Dimensions.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Klax as the seventh most successful table arcade unit of March 1990. Famicom Tsūshin awarded the PC Engine version 30 out of 40. Amiga Power ranked it the 26th best game of all time in 1991. IGN placed the NES version 44th in its Top 100 NES Games. Clayton Walnum in STart praised the Lynx version's gameplay, graphics, music, sound effects, and speech. Julian Rignall in CVG Magazine rated the Lynx version 93 out of 100, calling it simple and very addictive.