When I first saw the banner for Brick People, one of three upcoming titles that Sega was demoing yesterday in San Francisco, it seemed somewhat familiar but I couldn't quite place why. It wasn't until they showed a video of people playing the arcade version that I remembered, "Oh yeah, I've seen that crazy thing before!"

In the arcade version of Brick People, there were actual physical bricks that you used to play the game. They were similar to oversized Legos that you could stack onto a small ledge that jutted out at the base of the game screen. The tiny characters in Brick People would then be able to jump onto the bricks that you had built to reach fruit floating in the sky.

Brick People in the arcades was definitely kind of odd, but also a pretty clever idea. Now, Sega is bringing the game to iOS, though obviously without the physical bricks of the original. That's probably for the best, actually, since lugging around a tote bag full of oversized foam bricks really hampers the portability of iOS devices.

The virtual brick approach actually works quite well, especially on the large screen of the iPad. Brick People is a dead simple game at its core, but contains a ton of underlying strategy and challenge. It's probably best explained by one of Sega's reps in this brief hands-on video:

One interesting aspect to the iOS version of Brick People will be the multiplayer modes. You can connect locally over Bluetooth or WiFi to compete with a friend to see who can complete a level faster. On the iPad, there will be a same-device multiplayer mode as well, and this was the mode I was able to check out at yesterday's event to compete with some of my fellow game journalists.

I use the word "compete" extremely loosely, as I lost 6 times in a row and never won even a single game. The important takeaway from that, though, was that the frantic gameplay style of Brick People was still extremely fun face to face with another live person even when on the losing end. Also, I need lots of practice.

I came away really impressed with just how much fun Brick People is, even without real physical bricks to play with. The simple, fast-paced gameplay is perfectly suited for mobile, and there should be plenty of content to play through when the game ships this Fall. By that time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to win at least one multiplayer match. Time will tell.