Hands OnSolomon

Solomon is Tecmo's newest game in the Solomon's Key series. The Game Boy Color game features levels taken from the NES classic, as well as lots of new levels, and some semblance of a back story to help tie everything together.

For those of you not familiar with Solomon's Key, the game is a platform-style puzzle game. You, as Solomon, simply have to grab a key and exit each level before time runs out. You are armed with a magic wand which can create and disintegrate blocks, allowing you to create things like staircases of blocks and hop from the bottom of the level to the top. Each level also contains several obstacles, be they indestructible blocks, sections of the level that forbid block creation, or a wide collection of enemies. Each level also contains at least one bell, which summons a fairly from the exit door. Collecting a certain amount of fairies gives you an extra life. Various items are stashed around the levels, also. Most of them are simply extra points, but there are also two types of fireballs, which can be used to dispose of enemies creatures rather than simply navigating around them.

Graphically, the game looks almost identical to the NES original, though the game's enemies look completely different. The game shares some music with the original game, but most of the game's music is new. While the original game simply moved from level to level with no fanfare, Solomon contains boss fights and hi-res still images that help advance the game's story, which revolves around moving from room to room in a gigantic tower.

The version of Solomon shown on the floor at Spaceworld is 100 percent complete, and looks more than ready for its Japanese release near the end of September.