Pushmo

Pushmo, known as Pullblox in Europe and Australia and Hikuosu[lower-alpha 1] in Japan, is a downloadable puzzle game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for its Nintendo 3DS handheld system, available on the Nintendo eShop. In the game, players must shift around puzzle blocks in order to create steps and platforms, ultimately to reach children who have been trapped within the giant structures. A sequel, Crashmo (known as Fallblox in Europe and Australia), was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. A third game, Pushmo World (known in Europe and Australia as Pullblox World and in Japan as Hikuosu World), was released for Wii U on June 19, 2014. A fourth game, Stretchmo (known in Europe and Australia as Fullblox and in Japan as Hikudasu Hippaland), was released for Nintendo 3DS in May 2015.

Pushmo
Developer(s)Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Taku Sugioka
Producer(s)Shinya Takahashi
Kensuke Tanabe
Composer(s)Shoh Murakami
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • JP: October 5, 2011
  • EU: December 8, 2011
  • AU: December 8, 2011
  • NA: December 8, 2011
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot and setting

Pushmo is set in the Pushmo Park, where Pushmos are made by Papa Blox, the creator and caretaker of the Park. The park also has a studio where they can be created. Pushmo starts when Mallo arrives in the park alongsides children. There, Papa Blox learns that the children has been trapped by another child and hurts his back in the process. Mallo then helps Papa Blox to rescue the children across the park which each puzzle become harder in the progression. In the evening, when Mallo has rescued the children, the child who has trapped the others arrive and confronts Mallo; failing, he explains that he is new in town and just wanted fun. He presents himself as Corin and leaves woth Mallo and the children.

Gameplay

Basics

In the game, a Pushmo is a large, climbable playground structure made of blocks that can slide forwards and backwards.[1] The player controls Mallo, a red, round sumo wrestling creature visiting Pushmo Park, home to dozens of Pushmo. In order to rescue the children, Mallo must move the sliding blocks of the Pushmo in such a way to create a path to reach the child.[1]

Mallo can push and pull blocks a maximum of three steps forward, and can only do so while standing in front of the block or by standing to the side, provided Mallo has a platform on which to step while moving.[2] If Mallo becomes stuck, the player can either reset the Pushmo or use a rewind feature similar to games such as Braid and Catrap.[1] Also, difficult levels can be skipped and re-visited later, if desired.[1] Later levels add manholes that allow Mallo to travel within the Pushmo to reach other parts of the structure.[2]

Create and share

Along with the game's included 250-plus levels,[1] Pushmo also includes the Pushmo Studio, where players can create and share their own Pushmo puzzles.[1] In order to share puzzles, Pushmo generates a QR code that can be read by the 3DS' on-board cameras; the QR images can be posted on the Internet, printed or photographed from the 3DS's screen.[1]

Reception

Pushmo has received critical acclaim, particularly for its presentation and originality.[3] Lucas Thomas of IGN called the game "a beautifully original, absolutely charming and oftentimes devious little portable puzzler", "the 3DS eShop's killer app" and "this may very well be the best downloadable game Nintendo's ever offered in any format".[1] Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com said Pushmo was "one of the 3DS's most outstanding offerings to date".[2] Patrick Barnett of Nintendo World Report said the game was "an ingenious puzzler that will consume the free time of anyone who gives it a whirl".[4]

Sequels

A sequel to Pushmo called Crashmo (Fallblox in the PAL region) was announced on October 4, 2012 by Nintendo in both North America and Europe. It was released in Japan on October 31, 2012, November 22, 2012 for the North American Nintendo eShop and November 15, 2012 for the European and Australian eShop. Using Mallo, players save birds rather than children and Mallo will be able to take on 140 new levels by pulling the blocks in any direction, causing some to fall.[5] A third game, Pushmo World,[6] known in Europe and Australia as Pullblox World[7] and in Japan as Hikuosu World, has been released for the Wii U in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia on June 19, 2014.[8] A fourth game, Stretchmo, was released for the 3DS in Japan on May 12, 2015, and in Europe, Australia, and North America on May 14, 2015.[9]

Notes
  1. Japanese: 引ク押ス, lit. "Pull-Push"

References
  1. Lucas M. Thomas (December 8, 2011). "Pushmo Review". IGN.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  2. Jeremy Parish (January 4, 2012). "Brilliant Pushmo Deserves Better Than to Languish in eShop Obscurity". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  3. "Pushmo (3DS)". Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  4. Patrick Barnett (December 12, 2011). "Pushmo Review". NintendoWorldReport.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  5. Fletcher, Leon. "Pullblox Receives a Tumbling Sequel". Palm Gamer. Archived from the original on 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  6. Publicado por Kadu Bonamin. "Cat Mario e Cat Peach mostram Pushmo World (Wii U), e dão dicas para Mario Kart 8 em nova apresentação". Reino do Cogumelo. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  7. "Twitter / NintendoES: ¡Pullblox World se dejará". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  8. Nintendo. "Nintendo - Pushmo World". Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  9. "Nintendo's new 3DS Pullblox game is free to download". Eurogamer. 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
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