Aqua Aqua is the follow-up to Wetrix, the moisturizing agent.

No, you are unable to bypass the tutorial

.Wetrix was a little puzzle that was easy to miss. Unconventional to say the least, it was first released in 1998 for the N64 before being ported to the PC and Dreamcast. Although the game's name may make you think of Tetris, it's much more than just attempting to clear a wall of tetrominoes. Building walls to contain water is the aim, and if you succeed, you'll be rewarded with ducks. I believe everyone can agree that ducks make for a very nice reward. They behave like friendly geese and won't take your kid away.

If the first Wetrix was readily forgotten, its 2000 successor vanished into thin air. I've only now gotten around to attempting the sequel, even though I liked the first one and knew it existed. This is because in North America, it isn't referred to as Wetrix 2. It's Aqua Aqua, that is.

Lefties, righties, downers, and uppers

Just to be clear, only in North America is it \i>Aqua Aqua . It was Aqua Aqua: Wetrix 2.0 in Europe, which makes far more sense. However, the styled Aquaqua, which is a little more entertaining to pronounce, was used in Japan. "A-kwa-kwa."In North America, the box art was just as terrible. The cover seems like it belongs at the bottom of a bargain bin, as if the name wasn't already unintelligible. Conversely, the game is out of place there. It doesn't, as long as you like Wetrix, that is. And you ought to.I covered the essentials in my earlier post, and that is still mostly true. Actually, while I'm searching my mind for a significant distinction between \i>Wetrix and \i>Aqua Aqua, I'm thinking about bupkiss. You create ponds. Your award changes according on the board you're playing on, with the exception of this time. Dinosaurs are sometimes the subject, and they're almost as amazing as ducks.A square piece of ground is allotted to you for construction, and you make your pools by placing different block forms that descend from the sky on it. But there are other things that fall on you than these "uppers." In addition, there are explosives, water, ice, fire, and "downers." To build the largest, deepest pools for your dinosaurs, you must control all of these different terrain movers.

Rainbow!

It may be a little incorrect to suggest that the pools are the "biggest, deepest." Even after playing the tutorial, Aqua Aqua's scoring system remains quite enigmatic. In essence, any action you do earns you points, whether it dropping enough uppers or patching a hole in the terrain. There are several methods to develop your multiplier, which is necessary to get better points.Having additional lakes is one of the most evident. While there are benefits to owning a single large body of water, having many lakes will raise your multiplier. One of these lakes with a specific depth will also attract the previously mentioned "lake mates," such as dinosaurs. They also act as multipliers. Another multiplier is when there is a rainbow visible on your board and there is enough water on it. Lastly, you could find something for your bingo board if you clear water by setting it on fire. Among the many benefits of finishing a line is that it raises your multiplier.Aqua Aqua is less a science and more an art. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly, but avoiding spilling a lot of water is the primary component that determines your success. A gauge fills as you spill water, and the round ends when it reaches its limit. It's not catastrophic to lose a little liquid since the gauge also runs out.

Dinosaurs and Ducks

A narrative mode is one of the primary new features of \i>Aqua Aqua. You have a number of stages to go through even if "Story" is a touch too generous. Specifically, there are four, which isn't many, and if you know the fundamentals of playing, it shouldn't take you too long. You have to grasp the fundamentals before you can access the narrative mode, since it requires you to go through a torturous tutorial. There is, nonetheless, incentive to aim for greater ratings on every level.There are two primary wrinkles here. The matches aren't infinite, to start. If you endure long enough, it comes to an end. Secondly, periodically, creatures may attack your terrain. Even if they do strike you, the game is still not over if you manage to rack up enough points in the time before they appear. Usually, it will just slightly enhance your scenery.But use caution—if your aquascaping becomes very wavy, you risk setting off an earthquake. Even if you can survive them, some are rather harmful. To keep your board from being too uneven, you'll need to put in some downers. It's a quite good mechanism that completes the set of abilities required to contain water.

etc.One more Wetrix

While it's not my favorite puzzle game, Aqua Aqua and hence \i>Wetrix are a welcome change from bit matching and block stacking. Many of its mechanics are not as precise as they may be, but it is relaxed enough to make up for this. Although it may not be as soothing as it sounds, building ponds is still enjoyable, particularly when you can play with a second person.However, Aqua Aqua doesn't really provide a strong argument to be considered a sequel. The option to increase the size of your board was one of the new features that was originally intended, but it was discarded and nothing really replaced it. You're best off ignoring these repulsive goblin monsters that wander around the screen. very, it's essentially Wetrix once again, which is OK since the game is still very good. Although I wish there were more elegant, feature-rich contemporary adaptations, the series ended with Aqua Aqua.Click straight here to see more classic games you may have missed!