Sound Qube
From Sega Retro
| Sound Qube | ||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Saturn | ||||||||||
| Publisher: Human | ||||||||||
| Developer: Media Entertainment | ||||||||||
| Sound driver: SCSP (1 track) | ||||||||||
| Genre: Puzzle[1][2] | ||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||
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Sound Qube (サウンド・キューブ) is a puzzle game for the Sega Saturn.
Contents
Gameplay
This game is a puzzle game based around using sound cues to identify and eliminate cubes. There are eight levels, each consisting of five stages. Each stage presents a stack of cubes floating in space, using an isometric projection that shows the stack from two sides. Every cube appear identical but has a type, corresponding to a color: red, blue, purple, or white. There are also nuisance cubes that are not associated with a color. The objective of each puzzle is to eliminate all of the purple cubes, also called the core cubes, before running out of time. The time limit is depicted as a colorful energy meter at the bottom of the screen; energy drains as time goes on.
The player controls an arrow that can be moved with the D-Pad to select a cube. The selected cube is surrounded by a green frame and throbs. The whole stack rotates when the arrow is moved past the cube at an end. The arrow can send a sonic pulse through the selected cube with 
. There are two types of sonic pulses, red and blue; the arrow changes to blue when it is pointing to the left side of the stack and red when it is pointing to the right side of the stack. When a pulse hits a cube, the cube reacts differently depending on its color and the color of the sonar, giving a positive sound if the colors match and a negative sound if they differ. Red cubes respond to a red pulse, blue cubes respond to a blue pulse, purple cubes respond to both, and white cubes respond to neither. The pulse propagates to any cubes behind the affected cube, with those cubes also responding with a sound. Nuisance cubes emit a distinct sound and do not propagate the pulse to the cubes behind them. The player can mark cubes by pressing 
to cycle through the colors (though this has no gameplay effect and only exists for the purpose of helping the player keep track).
Cubes can be locked by selecting them and pressing 
, which highlights them in red. To eliminate red, blue, and white cubes, the player must lock at least two of them and then hit them with a pulse of either color. If all selected cubes are the same color, they are eliminated. Nuisance cubes cannot be eliminated. The player can remove any marks or locks from the selected cube by pressing 
. Purple cubes can be locked by pressing twice, which highlights them in green. These cubes can uniquely be eliminated one at a time. The player's energy meter is refilled whenever a core cube is eliminated. However, the player loses energy for misidentifying and attempting to eliminate a cube that is not a core cube using the green highlight, to discourage guessing. If multiple cubes are highlighted, they must all be core cubes for any to be eliminated. While it is only necessary to eliminate purple cubes to complete the stage, the player is rewarded with extra time and sometimes items for eliminating the other cubes.
The game shows a list of remaining cubes by color (with the purple cubes denoted by C for core) above the energy meter. This list can be toggled with 
for an additional challenge. The background image, which changes for each level, can also be toggled with 
.
The player loses a life if the energy meter runs out. If there are extra lives remaining, the player is given a new energy meter and continues without needing to restart the stage; otherwise, the game ends. The game saves the player's progress after each level (five stages), so the player can start a new game from any previously completed level from the main menu.
Items
Items sometimes appear after eliminating red or blue cubes. They can be selected and hit with a pulse to activate an effect.
| E | |
|---|---|
| Keeps the energy meter from draining for a period. | |
| S | |
| Increases the speed of the sonar. | |
| A | |
| Changes the arrow to purple, which can fire both red and blue pulses at the time time. | |
| L | |
| Gives the player another life. |
Magazine articles
- Main article: Sound Qube/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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60 |
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| Based on 4 reviews | |
| Saturn, JP |
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  Cover
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 Spinecard  Disc |
Technical information
- Main article: Sound Qube/Technical information.
References
- ↑ File:SoundQube Saturn JP Box Back.jpg
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/segasaturn/software_l.html#tab04 (Wayback Machine: 2019-12-07 02:59)
- ↑ Famitsu, "1998-04-10" (JP; 1998-03-27), page 1
- ↑ Saturn Fan, "1998 No. 8" (JP; 1998-04-10), page 165
- ↑ Saturn Fan, "1998 No. 10" (JP; 1998-05-15), page 116
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1998-11 extra (1998-04-17ex)" (JP; 1998-04-03), page 192
| Sound Qube | |
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Main page | Comparisons | Magazine articles | Reception | Technical information | |
