Columns III: Revenge of Columns

n/a

Columns III: Revenge of Columns

System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, Steam

Publisher: Sega (JP), VIC Tokai (US), Samsung (KR)

Developer: Sega, Minato Giken (programming)

Peripherals supported:

Team Player

Genre: Puzzle

Number of players: 1-5

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1993-10-15	¥4,8004,800	G-4108
US	1994-03^[1]		T-23056
KR	199x		GM93046JG
AS	199x
JP ▼	2007-12-11	600pts600
US ▼	2008-02-04	800pts800
EU ▼	2008-05-02	900pts900

ESRB

VRC

PEGI

OFLC

CERO
Missing Parameter!

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.

A Game Gear version was shown at Winter CES 1994, but was never released.^[2]

Gameplay

Columns III adds several new gameplay features, including new puzzle modes and up to five simultaneous players. Most notably it introduces the "Crush Bar," 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).

Columns III removes the single-player solo mode and brings the focus to competitive gaming. Like with Columns, the D-pad moves blocks and 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 or 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, and decide which opponent to crush (to the left or to the right, respectively).

Sometimes, one of your jewels will glow. You must remove the glowing jewel, called a Flashing Stone, before it stops glowing in order to do something devious to 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. Finally, a special type of block sometimes appears 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).

The Japanese version of Columns III also includes a 2-on-2 multiplayer mode.

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

Magazine articles

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

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

GamePro (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)^[3]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)^[4]

Print advert in EGM² (US) #2: "August 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #62: "September 1994" (1994-xx-xx)^[5]

Digital manuals

Steam manual

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

50

^[8]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

73

^[9]

Cool Gamer (RU)

50

^[10]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

NTSC

85

^[6]

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US)

NTSC-U

74

^[11]

Game Players (US)

NTSC-U

87

^[12]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

50

^[13]

MAN!AC (DE)

PAL

78

^[14]

Mega (UK)

NTSC-J

80

^[15]

Mega Fun (DE)

NTSC-U

84

^[16]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

NTSC-J

85

^[7]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-J

80

^[17]

SuperGamePower (BR)

70

^[18]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

75

^[19]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

80

^[20]

Video Games (DE)

NTSC-U

72

^[21]

	73
Based on 16 reviews

Columns III: Revenge of Columns

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, AS^†
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	dc678f6d
MD5	441b7e9c9811e22458660eb73975569c
SHA-1	8e52a5d0adbff3b2a15f32e9299b4ffdf35f5541

512kB

1993-12

Cartridge (US)

✔

CRC32	cd07462f
MD5	eeb557cd38ad00d6b4df48585098269a
SHA-1	2e850c2b737098b9926ac0fc9b8b2116fc5aa48a

512kB

1993-06

Cartridge (JP)

External links

References

↑ File:GamePro US 056.pdf, page 174
↑ File:CVG UK 148.pdf, page 22
↑ GamePro, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 141
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 93
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 81
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 File:CVG UK 150.pdf, page 103 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 150.pdf_p103" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 File:MeanMachinesSega18UK.pdf, page 95 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega18UK.pdf_p95" defined multiple times with different content
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 49
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-08), page 26
↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 52
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 40
↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 6 June 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 54
↑ Hippon Super, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-02), page 42
↑ MAN!AC, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 54
↑ Mega, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 39
↑ Mega Fun, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-18), page 105
↑ Sega Power, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-05), page 61
↑ SuperGamePower, "Maio 1994" (BR; 1994-0x-xx), page 36
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 10
↑ Video Games, "6/94" (DE; 1994-05-25), page 98

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
	Super Columns (1990)
Columns Related Media
	Columns・Columns II (1991)
	Hanagumi Taisen Columns Official Guide (1997) \| Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2 Perfect Guide (2000)

[:File:GamePro_US_056.pdf_p174-1] File:GamePro US 056.pdf, page 174

[:File:CVG_UK_148.pdf_p22-2] File:CVG UK 148.pdf, page 22

[:File:GamePro_US_057.pdf_p141-3] GamePro, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 141

[:File:EGM_US_058.pdf_p93-4] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 93

[:File:EGM_US_062.pdf_p81-5] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 81

[:File:CVG_UK_150.pdf_p103-6] 6.0 ^6.1 File:CVG UK 150.pdf, page 103 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 150.pdf_p103" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:MeanMachinesSega18UK.pdf_p95-7] 7.0 ^7.1 File:MeanMachinesSega18UK.pdf, page 95 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega18UK.pdf_p95" defined multiple times with different content

[8] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 49

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1993-11.pdf_p26-9] Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-08), page 26

[10] Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 52

[:File:EGM_US_057.pdf_p40-11] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 40

[:File:GamePlayers_US_0706.pdf_p54-12] Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 6 June 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 54

[13] Hippon Super, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-02), page 42

[:File:MAN.21AC_DE_1994-06.pdf_p54-14] MAN!AC, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 54

[:File:Mega_UK_17.pdf_p39-15] Mega, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 39

[:File:MegaFun_DE_1994-06.pdf_p105-16] Mega Fun, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-18), page 105

[:File:SegaPower_UK_56.pdf_p61-17] Sega Power, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-05), page 61

[:File:SuperGamePower_BR_002.pdf_p36-18] SuperGamePower, "Maio 1994" (BR; 1994-0x-xx), page 36

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85-19] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85

[20] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 10

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1994-06.pdf_p98-21] Video Games, "6/94" (DE; 1994-05-25), page 98

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Columns III: Revenge of Columns

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Digital manuals

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Technical information

ROM dump status

External links

References