Even given the lack of good new releases on Vita lately, I get the feeling that a lot of people overlooked SPL/Alawar’s Treasures of Montezuma Blitz. I can kind of understand why: at first glance it just looks like a nothing-special freemium match-three puzzle game.
Yes, at a basic level, TOM Blitz is a simple match-three game, in the same vein as Bejeweled. You have a minute in which to collect as many points as possible by matching gems, with your final score appearing in a weekly leaderboard with your PSN friends.
As you play levels, you also earn experience, which means you can level up and unlock new slots for totems, bonuses and crystals, which you use to ‘rent’ the aforementioned bonuses.
[drop2]Playing a game with no bonuses or totems selected won’t cost you any crystals (but will cost you a heart, which regenerate over time), but you’ll really struggle to get a decent score.Using bonuses and totems (which can be upgraded to be even more useful) will cost you jewels, which can be earned by playing, by levelling up, by winning a tournament, from the daily scratchcard, and by buying them in packs from the PlayStation Store.
On top of that, you can share and receive half of any winnings via Near.
It sounds complicated – and it is.
Today, a new (and extensive) update has been released for the game that really changes things – for the better.
The gap between levels is smaller (which stops it feeling as grind-y), there are automatic hints after a few seconds, bonuses appear from the start of the game rather than appearing as it goes on, friend’s levels appear in the leaderboard, and there’s a play button on the results screen to go straight to the next match.
But those aren’t the biggest changes. In the original game, there was either a lot of trial and error (or using a guide) in the first few games until you could really figure out what everything did.
Now, there is a more extensive tutorial, better in-game hints, tips on loading screens, a redesigned UI for ease of use, as well as more information available on all the gameplay elements by tapping on their icons throughout the game. I’ve had a play, and it really does clear up a lot of confusion that at least I had when I first picked up the game.
This update doesn’t suddenly make the game Vita’s first 3D next0gen blockbuster interactive experience. But TOM Blitz is a damn good puzzle game, with plenty of depth for those who stick with it. Oh, and did I mention that the update added trophies?
TOM Blitz is free for Vita from the PlayStation Store, so give it a download, and if you don’t like it you haven’t lost anything.
Thanks to teflon for the help with this article.
gaffers101
This is a great little game, I play it nearly every day and now with trophies yipee!!
doomsday619
My wife plays this alot on my Vita so it’ll be ideal now she can unlock the trophies for me.
shields_t
Has anyone noticed that the screenshot says “Hearts x 180”? I swear, If I had 180 hearts in TOMB I think I wouldn’t talk to anybody for three solid hours.
R1MJAW
Loving the update with a few exceptions … I’ve levelled up twice yet no ‘Good Start’ trophy (earn enough experience to level up) and the trophies aren’t syncing (but I assume this is the usual lazy feckers in charge of the trophy server).
Origami Killer
Yeah I noticed that first bug too. I’ve levelled up twice and haven’t gained the trophy. Very odd.
R1MJAW
I also purposefully scored no points, and therefore no crystals, and didn’t get the ‘Bad Luck’ trophy either. Seems they didn’t test their patch particularly well … if at all.
Origami Killer
That’s bad :/ hopefully its sorted soon.
sparkyscrum
Quite a few trophy issues it seems.
colmshan1990
Yup.
I’ve levelled up at least 4 times, got over the 1,000,000 points in a round 3 times, got a 10x multiplier a good few times (unless it’s talking about the crystal multiplier, in which case I’m never getting that trophy) and wasn’t awarded a trophy for any of them.
That said, I HAVE been given three trophies- Sandstorm and Dark Lord, which clearly looked at my past TOMB stats, and then Expert Matchmaker popped up a couple of rounds later.
Then again, the trophies won’t sync, even after I manually synced them, and updates my Portable ID…
Very strange.
Jakster123x
It’s a fantastic game now and i recommend everyone picks it up.
I’m not amazing at it (2.5m, Origami?!) but the game makes you feel good by throwing all this awesome stuff at you constantly and even rewards you after the days you don’t play it!
Origami Killer
Haha, got lucky with that score. Was 34th on the global leaderboard too :)
Jakster123x
Was it one of those times where the game literally plays itself after the time limit’s up? :) Either way, it’s an awesome score and kudos for the high leaderboard placement, and the luck. :D
Origami Killer
Yeah and about 10 times the whole game board just exploded leaving like 2 tokens left :) Luck of the draw :P
obiadekanobi1980
this game is very very addicted if you psend the time getting into it and now it has trophies and the awesome update i can see alot of ppl grabbing this and its free ive been playing since release day and its never cost me a penny just take it easy with the upgrades and save up at least 100,000 crystals before you start using the power ups as they cost 100 crystals every round and on average you only earn about 30- 40 crystals each round had a score of 345,450 with out any power ups
Tuffcub
I now declare that any gaming time on Vita is to be called “PSending time gaming” :)
Nate
I haven’t unlocked any trophies, nor can I see any on the trophies app? Other than that, a great update, much more playable.
damoxuk
Been playing this game everyday since I got it trying to beat my friends.
Now even better incentive :)
Gadbury
Brilliant game. I stuck with it, learned how it worked, and love it!
sparkyscrum
Was ok before but now has turned into a really worthwhile game that gets me using Near every day.