MEDIA RINGS/THINKING RABBIT CO. LTD.

1990

Pushing around boxes in store rooms may not sound like ideal fodder for a video game. Well, they went and made one anyway. Better known as Soko-Ban, this is one of those brain melting puzzle games that some will love and some will despise. Each level you are presented with a room with boxes and spots, which are where the boxes should end up. You can push the boxes, but not pull them and you really have to plan in advance to stop getting, um...'boxed' in. If you feel you've taken a bit of a wrong turn, you can simply push a button and rewind your moves. But as well as countless levels of box-shoving there's also a level editor that allows you to create your own levels of fun and frustration.

I have to admit up front that I really don't enjoy puzzle games that require a lot of mental forethought (so I'd be pretty useless at chess no doubt). This reflects on the score so take it into account because if you do like this sort of thing, then it isn't a bad game. Presentation is good enough, with each set of levels in a different 'country' with some mini animations thrown in now and again. Graphics are obviously simplistic, but they aren't distractingly poor. The music is actually quite good - far more tolerable than I would have expected.

I only can tolerate games like this up to the point where I get stuck, so it doesn't have a great amount of appeal for me. But on the plus side, at least there is no time limit. Basically, if you enjoy this kind of game then it's a decent enough version of Soko-Ban, if lacking in any imaginative flair.