GemStorm is a Puzzle Game created by John Stephens and Alex Zvenigorodsky (as the company Malachite), with beta testing by Sonya Natanzon, and released on 1996 by StarPress Inc. for Windows 3.x computers.
This Puzzle Game is a clone of Columns with some mechanics lifted from Puyo Puyo: the objective is to match a set of three (on later levels four to seven) gems of the same color, named drops here, these can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, to make them disappear from the field and meet the objective of each level. Chain reactions are possible here, so a clever player can extend the chain to earn lots of points with a single move. After the player makes enough drops on a level (and in later levels, a specific type of drop), they will go to the next level.
As with many Shareware games, this game was present in many software compilations through the nineties'. The game received an update called GemStorm 2.0, which changed the gem textures and reworked some of the gameplay mechanics.
For a similar (and considerably more succesful) game, see Bejeweled, released five years later.
GemStorm provides examples of:
- Anti-Frustration Features: If the player has Nots (see below) in their inventory and any gem reaches the top, the Clear Line will be triggered automatically one to three times, giving the player another chance.
- Also, if you max out the Not counter, a Clear Line will be automatically triggered to make space for the new Not.
- Classic Cheat Code: The original version has one, and it activates the Custom Game editor, where you can change the number of colored gems, thresholds for Drops and Nots, the Speed, and a Random Option. Type "Sonya" as the Password on the Title Screen to access it.
- Combos: As in Columns and Puyo Puyo, gems are affected by gravity, so a player can make chain reactions to earn more points based on a multiplier.
- Comeback Mechanic: If the player makes a drop that exceeds the required threshold by one or more gems, the player will earn a "Not". These "Nots" can be used for a variety of effects to help the player clear the level, such as clearing the bottom line, adding multicolor gems to the field in different ways, or eliminating an entire gem color. "Not" thresholds are indicated for every level below the Drop thresholds, with unused "Nots" being carried over to the next level.
- Exact Words: The titles for some of the levels: "Flat City, Horizontals Only!", "Skyscraper! Verticals Only!", or "Only Diagonals Count!".
- Match-Three Game: Just like Columns, although the match can be from three to seven gems of the same color depending on the level. A key difference is that you can use special moves to clear the level by accumulating Nots.
- Non-Indicative Difficulty: In the first version, the difficulty levels were really for choosing the starting level: Beginner starts from Level 1, Intermediate starts at Level 20, and Expert starts the player from Level 40, a la Tempest (but without any kind of point bonus). Averted in version 2.0, where any Level can be played on any difficulty, adjusting the Speed and Thresholds accordingly to keep the challenge.
- Password Save: In addition to a standard save file system, the game has this. This is also for activating the Custom Game Menu.
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Real Song Theme Tune: The game was notorious for the MIDI renditions of music of the time for its levels:- The title screen theme (named in the files as "GTITLE.MID") is Mit dir vielleicht by Nicole Holhoch, from her Album Augenblicke.
- The second theme (named as "G2.MID", or "G1.MID" in the demo) is Quiéreme Mucho (Yours) by Julio Iglesias.
- The third theme ("G3.MID", or "G2.MID" in the demo) is In Private by Dusty Springfield.
- The fourth theme ("G4.MID", or "G3.MID" in the demo) is D.I.S.C.O by Ottawan.
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Scrappy Mechanic: The gray gems, those don't make drops of any kind and their only purpose is to make things harder for the player. The only thing the player can use to get rid of those is to use the Degray Special Move (not available in the demo) to clear all of those from the field, but the Degray costs six Nots to activate. And no, you can't use the Eliminate Special Move (costing four Nots) on those. - Updated Re-release: GemStorm 2.0 changes the gem textures to make them less generical, changes how pieces are dropped (i.e.: the diagonal falling pieces are removed), adds more levels, and makes the difficulty levels playable on all levels. Also, the Custom Game Mode is available from the start.
