Cubixx HD Review – PC – Game Chronicles

Having spent most of the 80’s inside various arcades I have countless fond memories of numerous video games; one of which being a game called QIX. It was a simple premise really. You controlled a point of light on a square playing field and had to draw lines to completed boxes that would fill in. Your overall goal was to fill in a certain percentage of the entire screen while avoiding the Qix; a mindless entity that was basically a line bouncing around the borders of the available screen. Oh yeah, and there was that annoying Sparx that only traveled on completed lines trying to zap you.

Anyway, I’ve been looking for a faithful remake of this game pretty much since arcades became extinct and gaming moved into my living room. There have been a few lame attempts to mirror the simple brilliance of Taito’s original masterpiece; mostly on mobile platforms, but Cubixx HD is the first game in 35 years to coming close, and maybe in a few ways even surpassing the original.

As the name hints, Cubixx is basically Qix played on a six-sided rotating cube. Aside from this 3D enhancement the gameplay and rules are pretty much the same. You have full rotational and zoom control of the cube (or rather the camera around the cube) as you cut away panels revealing the swirling core inside the cube. Much like Qix, you have enemies that make this task exceedingly difficult as you dive deeper into the game’s 50 challenging levels.

My only complaint with the game is the unpredictability of the main enemy. The trailing pattern of boxes seems to have a mind of its own; or perhaps no mind at all. In Qix, the lines would bounce off the walls or new shapes you had created with geometric precision, giving you the chance to plan the direction and size of your next attempted shape. In Cubixx the box staggers around the playing field like a drunk polygon often doubling back to kill you just as you start your line. Sometimes this worked to my advantage as the box would seem to get stuck in a corner and I could trap him with a quick two-line draw and fill in 90+% of the cube side.

I was afraid that 50 levels would not be enough content, but after numerous hours of play I have yet to get past level 35. The difficulty curve is steep and what appears to be a Zen-like puzzle game for the first few levels turns into nail-biting chaos around level 10 as you are constantly forced to switch cube sides and stay on the move to avoid the multiple sparks traveling the lines. The only time you are safe from the sparks is when you are creating lines of your own, but then you have to worry about the enemies moving about the playfield.

In addition to the 50 Arcade levels, you also have another 50 Challenges, and all scores are tracked on 150 global leaderboards for the three new Attack modes; Score, Line, and Time Attack. And if you happen to have loads of friends and extra controllers invite them over for up to 7 local multiplayer co-op, in Arcade & Attack modes or battle up against 7 of your worst enemies in Cubixx Deathmatch. That’s a whole lotta gameplay for only $9.

When you look at the simplicity of the game that inspired it one can’t help but marvel at the ultra-cool graphic design of Cubixx HD that is basically a hodgepodge of colorful geometric shapes and flashy effects set against trippy background art that turns your screen into some hypnotic 70’s lava lamp. Combined with the equally awesome soundtrack mostly composed with energetic synth tunes, you can easily lose yourself for hours in Cubixx HD.

Cubixx HD might not be the perfect recreation of the classic Qix, but in many ways it may actually be a better version; a game that has been updated for a new generation of gamer and gaming hardware. With its 3D presentation and frenzied gameplay, Cubixx HD will certainly test the minds and reflexes of even the most seasoned of arcade veterans (that’s a polite way of saying “old”), and the quest of global leaderboard domination will keep competitive gamers coming back until they reach the top.