Difference between revisions of "Columns III: Revenge of Columns"

From Sega Retro
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==Gameplay==
 
==Gameplay==
−
''Columns III'' adds several new gameplay features, including new puzzle modes and up to five simultaneous players. It re-introduces the "Crush Bar" from ''[[Columns II: The Voyage Through Time|Columns II]]'', a competitive-play gambit which is now a staple feature of the ''Columns'' series appearing in every game since (each time with a different name). But this time around the players are able to do "Crush Bar" attack anytime they want and able to instead of having the game do that immediately.
+
''Columns III'' adds several new gameplay features, including new puzzle modes and up to five simultaneous players. It re-introduces the "Crush Bar" from ''[[Columns II: The Voyage Through Time|Columns II]]'', a competitive-play gambit which is now a staple feature of the ''Columns'' series appearing in every game since (each time with a different name). But this time around the players are able to do "Crush Bar" attacks anytime they want instead of having the game do that immediately.
  
−
''Columns III'' removes the single-player solo mode and brings the focus to competitive gaming. It's the first Columns game where you can play competively against CPU in a single-player campaign. Like with ''Columns'', the D-pad moves blocks and {{B}} cycles the jewels. Each character now has a meter under the "next block" bar that counts up from 0 to 30 each time a player removes jewels. Once it goes over 10, the player can hit {{A}} or {{C}} to "crush" whichever jewels are currently falling from the opponent's board, removing them and adding a row of bricks to the bottom of his field called the "Crush Bar." This will also lower your own Crush Bar. In multiplayer games with 3 or more players, {{A}} and {{C}} decide which opponent to crush (to the left or to the right, respectively).
+
''Columns III'' removes the single-player solo mode and brings the focus to competitive play. It's the first ''Columns'' game where the player can play competitively against CPU opponents in a single-player campaign. Like with ''Columns'', the D-Pad moves blocks and {{B}} cycles the jewels. Each player now has a meter under the "next block" bar that counts up from 0 to 30 each time a player removes jewels. Once it goes over 10, the player can hit {{A}} or {{C}} to "crush" whichever jewels are currently falling from the opponent's board, removing them and adding a row of bricks to the bottom of their field called the "Crush Bar." This will also the player's own Crush Bar. In multiplayer games with 3 or more players, {{A}} and {{C}} decide which opponent to crush (to the left or to the right, respectively).
  
−
After doing several chains in a row you will get a block containing a glowing jewel, called a Flashing Stone. It must be removed before it stops glowing to do one a random effect on the competitor for a short period of time, such as making his jewels black and white (impairing visibility), flipping the game board upside down, or making him unable to cycle jewels. Most of these are ineffective against CPU player.
+
After doing several chains in a row a player will get a block containing a glowing jewel, called a Flashing Stone. It must be removed before it stops glowing to do one a random effect on other competitors for a short period of time, such as making their jewels black and white (impairing visibility), flipping the game board upside down, or making them unable to cycle jewels. Most of these are ineffective against CPU players.
  
−
A special type of block appears after every 20 removed lines of jewels called a Magic Stone which takes the form of two triangular jewels with a square jewel in between. If you place the block with the upward pointing triangle touching the jewels on the board, your opponent will be crushed. If you place with the downward pointing triangle touching, your Crush Bar will go down. If you place with the square touching, all jewels on your board of the color of the jewel that is touched will be removed from the board (though no crush points will be awarded for consequential clears).
+
A special type of block appears after every 20 removed lines of jewels called a Magic Stone which takes the form of two triangular jewels with a square jewel in between. If the player places the block with the upward pointing triangle touching the jewels on the board, their opponent will be crushed. If they place it with the downward pointing triangle touching, their own Crush Bar will go down. If they place it with the square touching, all jewels on their board of the color of the jewel that is touched will be removed from the board (though no crush points will be awarded for consequential clears).
  
−
Outside of single-player campaign, once the field gets filled with considerable amount of jewel the game sometimes turn one of bottom rows jewels into a Super Flashing Stone, such situation being somewhat similar to Flash Columns. Removing it gives a powerful effect, such as removing all jewels on player's field or disabling Magic and Flashing Stones for opponent for the rest of the match.
+
Outside of the single-player campaign, once the field gets filled with considerable amount of jewels, the game sometimes turn one of the jewels in the bottom rows into a Super Flashing Stone, such a situation being somewhat similar to Flash Columns. Removing it causes a powerful effect, such as removing all jewels on player's field or disabling Magic and Flashing Stones for the opponent for the rest of the match.
  
−
The Japanese version of Columns III also includes a 2-on-2 multiplayer mode. It's similar to 1-on-1 with the third and the fourth players playing the supportive role, doing Rock-Paper-Scrissor matches to get the prizes onto their side.
+
The Japanese version of ''Columns III'' also includes a 2-on-2 multiplayer mode. It's similar to a 1-on-1 match with the third and the fourth players playing the supportive role, doing Rock-Paper-Scrissor matches to win boosts for their partner.
  
 
==Versions==
 
==Versions==

Revision as of 18:46, 20 April 2022

n/a

  • NTSC-U
  • NTSC-J

ColumnsIII Title.png

ColumnsIII MD JP Title.png

Columns III: Revenge of Columns
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, Steam, RealOne Arcade
Publisher:
Sega Mega Drive
Sega (Japan)
Sega Mega Drive
VIC Tokai (US)
Sega Mega Drive
Samsung (South Korea)
Developer:
Sound driver: SMPS Z80
Peripherals supported:
Sega Mega Drive
Team Player
Genre: Puzzle[1][2]

















Number of players: 1-5
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥4,8004,800 G-4108
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$49.9549.95[4] T-23056
Videogame Rating Council: GA
Sega Mega Drive
KR 		GM93046JG
Sega Mega Drive
AS
Arcade (Mega Play)
JP		 ¥? ?


























Wii Virtual Console
JP ▼ 		600pts600[6]
CERO: A
Wii Virtual Console
US ▼ 		800pts800[7]
ESRB: Everyone
Wii Virtual Console
EU ▼ 		900pts900[8]
Wii Virtual Console
AU ▼ 		900pts900[10]
OFLC: General (G)
RealOne Arcade
US ▼
Steam
US ▼ 		$2.992.99[13] 34317
ESRB: Everyone
Steam
EU ▼ 		€2.492.49[13] 34317
PEGI: 3+
Steam
UK ▼ 		£1.991.99[13] 34317
PEGI: 3+
Steam
AU ▼ 		$3.493.49[13] 34317
OFLC: General (G)
Steam Linux
US ▼ 		$0.990.99[15] 34317
ESRB: Everyone
Steam Linux
EU ▼ 		€0.990.99[15] 34317
PEGI: 3+
Steam Linux
UK ▼ 		£0.790.79[15] 34317
PEGI: 3+
Steam Linux
AU ▼ 		$1.351.35[15] 34317
OFLC: General (G)
Steam OS X
US ▼ 		$0.990.99[15] 34317
ESRB: Everyone
Steam OS X
EU ▼ 		€0.990.99[15] 34317
PEGI: 3+
Steam OS X
UK ▼ 		£0.790.79[15] 34317
PEGI: 3+
Steam OS X
AU ▼ 		$1.351.35[15] 34317
OFLC: General (G)

Columns III: Revenge of Columns, known as Columns III: Taiketsu! Columns World (コラムスIII 対決！コラムスワールド) in Japan, is an entry in the Columns series of puzzle games developed by Sega in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive. The game was only released in Japan and the US, with VIC Tokai publishing it in the US (consequently, the incorrect myth that VIC Tokai also developed the game is very widespread). The game has been brought to the Wii's Virtual Console service.

The 5-players multiplayer is supported with Team Player peripheral that has to be inserted into Port 2 of the Sega Mega Drive. Game will not recognise controllers if it's inserted into Port 1.

A Game Gear version was shown at Winter CES 1994, but was never released.[16]

Gameplay

Columns III adds several new gameplay features, including new puzzle modes and up to five simultaneous players. It re-introduces the "Crush Bar" from Columns II, a competitive-play gambit which is now a staple feature of the Columns series appearing in every game since (each time with a different name). But this time around the players are able to do "Crush Bar" attacks anytime they want instead of having the game do that immediately.

Columns III removes the single-player solo mode and brings the focus to competitive play. It's the first Columns game where the player can play competitively against CPU opponents in a single-player campaign. Like with Columns, the D-Pad moves blocks and B cycles the jewels. Each player now has a meter under the "next block" bar that counts up from 0 to 30 each time a player removes jewels. Once it goes over 10, the player can hit A or C to "crush" whichever jewels are currently falling from the opponent's board, removing them and adding a row of bricks to the bottom of their field called the "Crush Bar." This will also the player's own Crush Bar. In multiplayer games with 3 or more players, A and C decide which opponent to crush (to the left or to the right, respectively).

After doing several chains in a row a player will get a block containing a glowing jewel, called a Flashing Stone. It must be removed before it stops glowing to do one a random effect on other competitors for a short period of time, such as making their jewels black and white (impairing visibility), flipping the game board upside down, or making them unable to cycle jewels. Most of these are ineffective against CPU players.

A special type of block appears after every 20 removed lines of jewels called a Magic Stone which takes the form of two triangular jewels with a square jewel in between. If the player places the block with the upward pointing triangle touching the jewels on the board, their opponent will be crushed. If they place it with the downward pointing triangle touching, their own Crush Bar will go down. If they place it with the square touching, all jewels on their board of the color of the jewel that is touched will be removed from the board (though no crush points will be awarded for consequential clears).

Outside of the single-player campaign, once the field gets filled with considerable amount of jewels, the game sometimes turn one of the jewels in the bottom rows into a Super Flashing Stone, such a situation being somewhat similar to Flash Columns. Removing it causes a powerful effect, such as removing all jewels on player's field or disabling Magic and Flashing Stones for the opponent for the rest of the match.

The Japanese version of Columns III also includes a 2-on-2 multiplayer mode. It's similar to a 1-on-1 match with the third and the fourth players playing the supportive role, doing Rock-Paper-Scrissor matches to win boosts for their partner.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as
Language Localised Name English Translation
English (US) Columns III: Revenge of Columns Columns III: Revenge of Columns
Japanese コラムスIII 対決！コラムスワールド Columns III: Taiketsu! Columns World

Production credits

  • Game Design: Marsh, Kyamura
  • Programming: Moveq Tab
  • Graphic Design: Kayamame
  • Sound Production: Ker Akiyan
  • Assistant Design: Locky P
  • Data Entry: Dance End, Ojyamamusi
  • Manual Script: Yoikotachi, Winds
  • Production: XYZ
  • Special Thanks: Koz, Ogy, Yumeko. H, K.M., Sunset, Saru Man
  • Presented by: Sega

Digital manuals

  • Steam manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Columns III: Revenge of Columns/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in EGM² (US) #2: "August 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1993-11: "November 1993" (1993-10-08)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[20]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
73
[21]
Cool Gamer (RU)
50
[22]
Computer & Video Games (UK) NTSC
85
[23]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
74
[24]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
87
[4]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
50
[25]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
78
[26]
Mega (UK) NTSC-J
80
[27]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
84
[28]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J
85
[29]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
80
[30]
SuperGamePower (BR)
70
[31]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
75
[32]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
80
[33]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
72
[34]
Sega Mega Drive
 73
Based on
16 reviews

Columns III: Revenge of Columns

Mega Drive, JP
ColumnsIII MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Columns3 MD JP CartTop.jpg
Columns3 md jp cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, US
ColumnsIII MD US Box.jpg
Cover
ColumnsIII MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Columns III MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, KR
ColumnsIII MD KR Box.jpg
Cover
Columns3 MD KR cartback.jpgColumns3 MD KR cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AS†
ColumnsIII MD JP Box.jpg
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 dc678f6d
MD5 441b7e9c9811e22458660eb73975569c
SHA-1 8e52a5d0adbff3b2a15f32e9299b4ffdf35f5541
512kB 1993-12 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 cd07462f
MD5 eeb557cd38ad00d6b4df48585098269a
SHA-1 2e850c2b737098b9926ac0fc9b8b2116fc5aa48a
512kB 1993-06 Cartridge (JP)

External links

References

  1. ↑ File:ColumnsIII MD JP Box.jpg
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-20 09:51)
  3. ↑ GamePro, "March 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 174
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 6 June 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 54
  5. ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/06.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-05 22:42)
  6. ↑ http://vc.sega.jp:80/vc_columns3/ (Wayback Machine: 2007-12-11 11:18)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/9XqQscz_7ofww9ceFpdAa4ENqzOWIim2 (Wayback Machine: 2010-11-22 22:45)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://www.nintendolife.com/games/megadrive/columns_iii_revenge_of_columns (Wayback Machine: 2017-06-14 01:36)
  9. ↑ https://www.nintendo.fr/Jeux/Console-virtuelle-Wii-/Columns-III-Revenge-of-Columns-276731.html (archive.today)
  10. ↑ http://www.nintendo.com.au/index.php?action=catalogue&prodcat_id=41&prod_id=19730&pageID=4 (Wayback Machine: 2012-04-03 03:03)
  11. ↑ [ ]
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 https://steamdb.info/app/34317/ (Wayback Machine: 2016-08-06 08:03)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 http://steamdb.info/app/34317/ (Wayback Machine: 2013-05-22 20:09)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 https://steamdb.info/app/34317/history/?changeid=5755289
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 http://steamdb.info/app/34317/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-09-06 22:33)
  16. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-15), page 22
  17. ↑ GamePro, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 141
  18. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 93
  19. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 81
  20. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 49
  21. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-08), page 26
  22. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 52
  23. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-15), page 103
  24. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 40
  25. ↑ Hippon Super, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-02), page 42
  26. ↑ MAN!AC, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 54
  27. ↑ Mega, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 39
  28. ↑ Mega Fun, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-18), page 105
  29. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-02-28), page 95
  30. ↑ Sega Power, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-05), page 61
  31. ↑ SuperGamePower, "Maio 1994" (BR; 1994-0x-xx), page 36
  32. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  33. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 10
  34. ↑ Video Games, "6/94" (DE; 1994-05-25), page 98


Columns III: Revenge of Columns

ColumnsIII Title.png

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Games in the Columns Series
Columns (1990) | Columns II: The Voyage Through Time (1990) | Columns III: Revenge of Columns (1993) | Stack Columns (1994) | Super Columns (1995) | Columns '97 (1996) | Hanagumi Taisen Columns (1997) | Columns Arcade Collection (1997) | Columns GB: Tezuka Osamu Characters (1999) | Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2 (2000) | Columns Crown (2001) | Columns Jewel (2005) | Columns Deluxe (2008) | Jewelpet Kira Kira Mahou no Housekibako (2009) | Sega Ages Columns II (2019)
Columns Taisen Mode Tsuki (1991) | Columns (Mame Game) (1997) | Columns (Pocket Boy) (1997) | Columns for Zaurus (2001) | Columns for Clié (2002)
Unlicensed Columns games
Sega Master System
 Super Columns (1990)
Columns Related Media
Music
 Columns・Columns II (1991)
Book
 Hanagumi Taisen Columns Official Guide (1997) | Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2 Perfect Guide (2000)
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