Columns
Sega's arcade answer to
Tetris,
Columns features the popular concept of stacking items in a well and requires players to match up three or more of a similar color horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to clear out jewels that pile up at the bottom. As the name "Columns" would indicate, the gameplay centers around dropping columns of three colored jewels rather than shapes, with the player able to shift the order of the three jewels in the column for the maximum clearing and combo clears. Unlike similar Virtual Console games like
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, earning a score only happens when items are lined up, not bunched together.
Traditional and intellectual in presentation – perhaps best represented with its organ-driven, Olde World music –
Columns is slow to get into, and offers no direct competitive mode between two players, instead featuring either simple side-by-side playing where the highest score is the only indication of one player or another "winning", and a couples mode where players take turns dropping pieces.
Legacy...
Columns made it into the
Sega Genesis Collection on PS2 and PSP, but for Nintendo owners Virtual Console is the only place to find it. It's original in its presentation, but
Mean Bean Machine offers nearly everything
Columns does with better multiplayer.
