Fire 'N Ice

I get lost in puzzle games quite a bit, but I haven't been so smitten in quite a long time. To be frank, I really thought that I had played and beaten the best of them.

Christ, did I ever miss one.

Someone is in a great deal of trouble with me for never even mentioning this games existence. It is apparently a prequel to Solomon's Key, which makes me even more upset about my nescience, although I have to say this game gave me more of a run for my money than Solomon ever did.

Fire 'N Ice takes place on COOLMINT Island, which just may be the coolest (and mintiest) fucking place I've ever been. You play as Dana, who I thought I was led to believe the entire game was a girl. I was not alone in this assumption, as everyone else in the room cheered at the idea of a female lead. Of course, hours after everyone drifted to their respective rooms for sleep, I neared the end of the game almost alone, save for one other person. The game became incredibly amazing in those last moments as Dana starting making out with a princess super hard. We were beside ourselves with incredible amazement. Then, of course, the old lady who had so kindly been telling the story informed us that Dana was actually a dude, so it became a little less cool, though retainted it's minty after effects.

The game itself is rather simple though; all you're doing is putting out fires with blocks of ice. There are 9 worlds, moreorless, via a SMB3-esque mapscreen, with 9 levels per world plus a "boss" fight. The bosses are either A) Kill all the enemies on the screen (which is no different from every other level, except that the enemies move) or B) Put out all the static fire on a screen that slowly moves upwards and loops, which can be a pretty daunting task later on. The only thing you have to aid you is a wand that will create or remove a block of ice to your lower left, or lower right. No where else. It can be quite the bitch.


I think one of my favorite things about this game is the way the fire changes from world to world. It never gets any harder to put out, meaning it's always just one block of ice to remove, but the fire gets cooler. In the first world it's just fire. In the ninth world it's fire with a smile and a pair of shades on, as if to say "Yeah, Fuck you Dana". It's absolutely fantastic.

Another interesting thing is that the story of the game is being told by a grandmother to her two grandchildren. It reminds me a lot of 100 World Story, except at the same time it makes you kind of sad thinking that your character is probably already dead, kind of similar to FFX, except in this game there's more to care about. Coolmint Island > Zanarkand.

After beating this lovely game I went to get myself something to drink. Upon returning to the living room I noticed a lady's face on the TV telling me that my quest wasn't over yet! All I have to is hold select and press B ten times to play levels 101-150. ..Which I may do, tomorrow.


The funny thing about me and puzzle games, is that I usually only find myself playing them when I'm depressed or feeling kind of bad. I use them as a distraction that I have to focus on. Anything that's bothering me won't come back into my mind until I'm done, where as with a game that's more action based may have a lull in it that makes me remember I'm still just a worthless bum. Fire 'N Ice did the job of distraction perfectly, second only to a rousing game of Go.


So yeah, go try it.