Pipe Mania Review

Make that connection.

In a nutshell, Pipe Mania has bad graphics, ban sound and hardly any variation in its very simple gameplay - yet I love it! Pipe Mania works along the same theory that keeps Pac-man and Space invaders popular. A game dosen’t have to have Galaxy Force graphics and an Afterburner soundtrack to be fun to play and addictive.

Aesthetically, Pipe Mania has very little to offer. The game is based around a grid, the main graphics being composed from the dozen or so different pieces of pipe that are placed within the squares on the grid.

The idea behind the game is simple. You, the plumber, within the set time limit, have to rig up a pipe to a particular length. Simple, is it not?

Plumbs the depths graphically, but
Pipe Mania has brilliant gameplay. 

The only real problem is that you can only take the bit of piping at the bottom of your bag, and that’s rarely the one you want. What you then do with that piece is your own business. You can lay it down elsewhere and try and link it up to semithing, or just drop it and pick up the next piece. This sescond method isn’t advised: it costs valuable points to buy bits of piping, so it’s best to have a pretty good idea in your head as to how the pipe will run.

When the painfully short time limit runs out and you don’t have enough bits of pipe laid down the water starts to flow, very very slowly. You can still lay down pipe, but don’t take too long over it as the water will speed up quickly. And that’s about the size of it.

Technically there isn’t much of a game in there; but I can see this easily outlasting many of the flashiest arcade conversions. It’s Just so addictive you won’t have time to catch your breath.

Verdict: 83/100