Classic Simon

Summary

Do you remember Senso? The game was available in several colors, and the buttons in the middle were usually circular. Simon’s look is a little different, but some nostalgic feelings welled up in me whilst playing this game nevertheless. If you were a Senso fan as well, you certainly won’t regret reading this test. And you don’t have to be an old fuddy duddy in order to enjoy this game, as the principal behind it is a classic one.

In case you aren’t familiar with Senso, here’s an overview of the gameplay:

There are four colorful fields (yellow, blue, read, and green), which light up at intervals and make different sounds. The player has to memorize the color/sound sequence and then repeat it. With every new round a color/sound combination is added, and the fields light up faster and faster, the higher the level of difficulty. If you press on the wrong field, you lose.

If you aren’t familiar with Senso, you may be thinking that this sounds like a bit of an unchallenging game, but the gameplay is, in fact, rather addictive. I have to confess that I enjoyed today’s test a lot (that is to say, I spent a while playing the game), because Classic Simon offers all the same things the original Senso did—and then some.

Aside from “Classic Mode” (which is the one with four colors, described above), there’s also “Super Mode”, which has nine buttons, and thus nine different colors/sounds. As you can imagine, the latter can get really wild, as even higher levels of “Classic Mode” are challenging enough.

After starting Classic Simon you’ll find yourself in Classic Mode and see the four buttons you’ll have to hit in the right order during the game. On the homescreen, these buttons also represent the menu buttons, via which you can:

Start the game
Set the keypad tones ("All on", "Color pads only" or "All off")
Set the speed (level of difficulty: "Slow", "Medium" or "Fast")
Switch between "Classic Mode" and "Super Mode"

You also have the following options via the menu button:

Best Scores
Info / about

These allow you to see what your score is, as well view a gameplay explanation.

When you start a game, you will be shown the first button/tone you’ll have to push. You’ll find your current as well as your best score in the upper margin. If you make a mistake, the background will start flashing in orange, and a slightly unpleasant sound will let you know that the game is over. If you set the keypad tone to “Color pads only”, you’ll know that the game has ended by the flashing orange background.

The level of difficulty is defined by the speed of the button sequence. If you’ve set it on “Fast” you have to be prepared to keep up in order to stay in the game. “Super Mode” is even more of a challenge for your “little grey cells”; the extra buttons make it harder to remember the sequences.

For nostalgic reasons, I do prefer “Classic Mode”, but “Super Mode” does make for a nice (if somewhat hectic) change.

Bottom line:
As already mentioned: "Classic Mode" has an old-timer appeal for me. Classic Simon will be appreciated by anyone who’s familiar with Senso—but I predict that newcomers will get addicted just as quickly as the first wave in the 1980s.

 

Absolutely no problems to report: Classic Simon ran smoothly throughout the testing phase.

Classic Simon can be downloaded for free from the Android Market. However, you will have to put up with constant advertisement while yo're playing.