Fairy Treasure Review

Fairy Treasure Review (by Gamezebo) 

As a given rule of thumb, if you've played one block-breaking arcade game, you've played them all - general mechanics and extended features typically vary little between standard genre selections.

Thankfully, what they lack in ingenuity, recent titles like Fairy Treasure more than make up for in production values, relying on charm, personality and good, old-fashioned entertainment value to carry the day.

Trust us: A revolutionary romp this isn't - plenty of competitors have more successfully aped everything from the brick-bashing adventure's amusing bonuses to its catchy New Age soundtrack and rich fantasy theme. But from the moment the outing's animated menu screen appears to the time you finally power down, after steamrolling dozens of its whopping 120 featured levels in a single marathon session, it's undeniably an entertaining ride.

Never mind the storyline, which sees you chasing after greedy troll Dronk (who's stolen a great treasure from the people of Trollandia) at the behest of the noble King Richard. Attractive presentation - magical flames charmingly burn themselves onto parchment before your very eyes - aside, it's just an excuse to dive right into the action. All you really need to know is this... Controlling a raft located at the bottom of the screen, repeatedly smack onrushing balls into the various collections of rocks, stones and statues waiting above at every turn, with stages ending when you've successfully battered all into dust.

A simple premise, certainly, but also one that works quite well in practice, as you'll note after fairies fly by, revealing the architecture and layout of the playfield associated with each scenario. While backgrounds such as misty lakes and mysterious forests themselves are static, and the aim of the game is simply not letting any balls past you, level design itself proves an immediate high point.

Forget slowly and visibly reducing granite blocks to rubble while collecting power-ups that award multiple balls and extra rafts or transform spheres into flaming fireballs capable of cutting through solid rock like a hot knife through butter. What you're really here for are the little touches. Think lanterns which dangle from chains, falling to shatter with an audible crash when struck. Pots of gold which tumble clanking down when battered, spraying collectible coins (grab 100 for an extra life) on impact. Witches who sit astride remote outcroppings, casting spells that cause previously-destroyed structures to regenerate. Oh, and don't forget blocks that move about on chains; potion bottles that break and splash, causing magical effects; and fairy helpers who, when set free from their prisons, help by destroying random targets too.

All told, a great deal of effort has been placed into making the world which you inhabit feel alive and interesting, helping separate the game from the veritable legions of lifeless clones with which it competes. Meaning that you won't want to play Fairy Treasure so much for actual content (although the title admittedly handles well, offers excellent replay potential and features an array of challenging obstacles), but rather sheer novelty value. To wit, collecting bonus level-unlocking scrolls or symbols that power the ultimate weapon, an explosive, chain-mounted fireball, isn't really the main draw. Rather, it's enjoying the overall package, and way in which - when the action truly gets hopping - you're frantically juggling several spheres while jewels, objects and sparkles rain down in an unrelenting shower of frantic excitement.

Our only real beef with the amusement: The amount of time it can take to finish off certain stages, given the general frequency with which special weapons appear. All too often, you'll find yourself left at the end of a level with just five or six blocks remaining, each of which takes several strikes to batter down. However, should you have died recently or a power-up effect worn off, systematically removing the remaining targets, even with fairy assistance, can prove a frustratingly drawn-out process, especially if they aren't adjacent.

Minor quibbles notwithstanding though, it's a given: There's hours of solid fun built in. The bottom line... Original Fairy Treasure might not be, but for a chip off the same old block-basher, it's still priceless in its own right.

Fairy Treasure Review (by Gamemile) 

Fairy Treasure: Break-Out Fairy-Tale

There's a recent trend in casual games towards magic. Let's just recall several latest titles: Fairy Godmother Tycoon, Magic Academy, Fairy Jewels...

And here comes the next candidate - Fairy Treasure.

Imagine a break-out game kind of Bricks of Atlantis (yeah, an arkanoid with a dark background), plus fairy-tale plot filled with adventures, plus more diversified gameplay, plus fairies on the backgounds...

...and finally, the embarrassment of riches falling from above in the shape of bonuses, magic scrolls, golden coins and impressive video effects.

So, you are going to get Fairy Treasure, a classical arkanoid framed into the fairy-tale.   

Have you heard a legend about the Fairy Treasure - a gift, given to the knights of Trollandia for helping the Fairy Queen?.. Yes, everything happened many years ago in the Trollandia Kingdom. An evil troll Dronk, who lived in a giant cave near the Kingdom, decided to conquer the King's castle. But he couldn't do it notwithstanding his force and slyness.

Then he burst into the chamber and stole the treasure of precious jewels, fairy dusts and magic potions.

And now King Richard is looking for a brave hero, skilled enough to accept a challenge and find the stolen Treasure.

When you are ready to start your amazing journey to the magic land, just have a look at the Trollandia map to get orient in your location. Your way lies to the castle that hides a great number of treasures behind its walls. Be ready to struggle against hags, goblins and other evil creatures that guard the River path. But very nice River Fairies will assist you in your challenging deal by hitting the stones of the castle in case you have difficult time doing that.

The rules are traditional for every arkanoid. And Fairy Treasure is no exception.

Move your bat left and right with your mouse, to prevent the ball from sinking, otherwise you'll lose a life. Remember, that a deep river flows in the bottom of the playing field.

So your main task is to destroy bricks by hitting them with the ball and clear up a playing field.

Some bricks contain precious stones, coins and other useful bonuses which may score you points and even provide you an extra life.

To earn them, just break the tile and catch a bonus with your bat. You may be granted with extra right or left bat; fast, fire, slow, strong balls; three balls; extra life etc.

Also, there are various exciting power-ups that can incredibly help you to advance in a game

They are as follows:

Magic Bottles - blue liquid make your balls magnetic, red liquid - make your balls wacky and a fire one - explosive;

Special Mushrooms: the spores of one of them make your ball sticky, while another one explodes when hit;

Magic Scroll - gather 8 scroll parts to enter a bonus level;

Chain Ball - you may unlock it by collecting 5 keys;

Gold Coins - 100 of them will grant you an extra life.

Besides, you may get such power-ups, as Frogs, Fairies, Key Switch, and Action Switch.

The only drawback about this game is I guess is a bit dark background. But seems like it's traditional for all arkanoids(I really cannot think of any arkanoid game with the light background). But still, if you are a connoisseur of good-old break-out games, this one will provide you a nice "fairy" experience.