Released in 1997, Intelligent Qube, was among many reasons for gamers to invest into a Sony Playstation. Along sideFinal Fantasy VII, Parappa The Rapper, Klonoa, Ray Storm, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Crash Bandicoot 2,and many others, IQ helped seal the deal that Playstation was indeed a gaming powerhouse.

The concept was simple. The game was a puzzle game, similar to the Tetris/Dr. Mario formula, but created in a completely original and interesting new take on the genre.

There are three cubes types:

Normal cubes, which are gray and can be destroyed at anytime.

Advantage cubes, green cubes, which after being destroyed set off a linked combo destroying cubes adjacent to them. It’s possible to set off more than one green cube at once.

Forbidden cubes, which are black. These are not to be destroyed or even touched. It’s suggested to let these cube types to completely fall off the platform because you get bonus points for doing so. Destroying a black cube will result in losing a whole row of tiles on the platform, making the situation that much more tricky.

The main character, Elliot, is placed on a platform with multiple cubes. The goal is to not fall off the end of the said platform. The thing is, the multiple cubes that are placed in the area continue to roll down. Unlike other puzzle games that take the Tetris take, IQ has the objects set up as obstacles, so there’s a bigger sense of interactivity. They can crush, push, and literally kill you.

In order to make sure they don’t end up pushing you off the platform, the player has destroy them before they reach the end, resulting in a game over. The goal of the game is to destroy as many gray and green cubes as fast as possible to prevent them from pushing you off the edge. To get most of the cubes deleted, the player has to take advantage of a feature that lets you combo green cubes together, allowing you to take rows upon rows of blocks. The tricky thing is that you have to watch out for the black blocks, so there’s a deep sense of risk vs reward here.

To break cubes the player has to position him/herself with the cube they’re targeting, press the activate tile button, and wait for the cube to fall on it. Once it’s reached your target tile, you press the same button, deleting the cube/s you went for.

While it sounds pretty easy, it’s not. IQ’s gameplay definitely lives up to it’s name. The marketing campaign of the game even went as far as asking players to try to game out, just to see how smart they are. It would be great if I could have some of those old IQ magazine ads.

What’s more, is that the game features some of the best music in a puzzle game. It really sets the mood I think.

IQ has always had a lot to offer if you’re into arcade gameplay or simply like puzzle games in general. I still pop it in even to this day for the occasional block ass kicking. With multiple characters to unlock, scores to beat, and other things to do, I’d say IQ has a moderate replay value level if you’re into the game, but it’s the type where you’ll come back over and over despite these extras just because it’s so fun.

Highly underappreciated, and although I wouldn’t say it’s the best puzzle game ever (Devil Dice/Bombastic is that folks), it’s certainly up there. Unfortunately, it has a high fetch price online and it’s next to impossible to find in stores. We can only hope the PSP version gets released here so everyone can play this gem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4YGOfDRLec