The Blocks Cometh makes me want to slam my iPod into a toilet. I fancy envisioning this happening in slow motion; the iPod tumbles end over end towards a porcelain rim, then a triumphant splash of thick, watery droplets crown the device as it makes contact. Perhaps there'll be a sizzle or two as the electronics thrash before drowning. That'd be nice.

I can't help but to compare The Blocks Cometh to Super Meat Boy because of the love and hate relationship I've developed with it. Like with Team Meat's game, The Blocks Cometh has style to spare, a superb tone, and a lot to share, but it's so demanding, and so damn difficult, AND I suck so bad at it, that the game makes me want to snuff my iPod and listen to it fizzle.

You get the idea, but there's an important distinction between the two games: The Blocks Cometh isn't about trial-and-error, nor is it as insane as SMB. It's a manageable game (that I suck at) and a very a different one to boot.

The Blocks Cometh is like a tortured game of Tetris that has you, as an avatar, climbing up stacks of blocks that fall from the skies. You've no control over the blocks and there are no rewards for lines � that's not the point. The point is to climb higher and higher on the pile in order to record a high score without getting crushed.

It's like The Incident [$1.99], in other words, except with more movement mechanics. You can double jump, slide on moving or set blocks, and even shoot blocks to eradicate them if you can find the time to do so.What makes this so hard is a combination of the game's pace and the precision that it requires. The speed of the falling blocks ramps up quickly, and you need to be oh-so nimble in order to navigate the environment that inevitably changes as new blocks are introduced.

To give you a sense of what I'm talking about: a common scenario involves interaction with three blocks and the use of at least two mechanics in order to reach the highest point. For example, sometimes you'll need to slide on a falling block, jump onto a stagnate one, and then double jump to the other side of the level in the span of a second or so.

But when you manage to do this, there's no better feeling of reward. You feel like some sort of super ninja, the master of all things jump, slide, and shoot. It's great… until you get clobbered because you were just half a millimeter off on a jump.

And speaking of great, like SMB, The Blocks Cometh is rocking an excellent tone and a visual flair reminiscent of a new age 8-bit game. It's highly stylized and fitting, especially when you factor in the retro-infused music that plays over the action. It's good stuff.

So, a fair word of warning to those of you who don't want to get bludgeoned by a game on a device that can make phone calls: The Blocks Cometh is hard, requiring a level of precision that I can only barely muster (not that I'm a super ninja or anything.) But if you don't mind a little pain with your video games, then this is definitely worth some space on your device.

Note: While this game is currently available in most international markets, it won't appear for download in the US until 11:00 PM EST.

App Store Link: The Blocks Cometh, 99�

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