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Pushmo (known in Europe as Pullblox) is a downloadable game from the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is a puzzle game, in which players must push and pull block patterns in order to create steps and platforms, in order to rescue a child trapped within the block structures. It was follow-uped by three sequels, Crashmo on the 3DS, Pushmo World on Wii U and Stretchmo on 3DS.
Plot[]
Warning: the following story may contain spoilers if have not played the game, continue reading at your own risk!
The story begins with Mallo along with some kids heading off to Pushmo Park where Papa Blox greets them and tells them to have a great time. When Mallo enters the first level, Papa Blox panics as a child is trapped inside; attempting to save it, he aches his back and unable to save the child. After he notices Mallo, he ask if he could help him rescue the child trapped inside the Pushmo, Mallo decides to. After saving the child and heading to the next level, another child is having fun up high, while Mallo's back is turned, an unknown troublemaker kid (later to be revealed to be named Corin in Crashmo) spins Mallo and presses the reset button on purpose and leaves, trapping the child inside the Pushmo, which reveals how all the children are trapped.
After a long adventure of saving children and encounting Corin a few times, he appears again at the end of the game sparking up trouble once again, only this time Mallo stops him from causing trouble. Papa Blox asks why was he pressing reset buttons, which reveals he was lonely. After he confessed, other children come up to Corin to become friends to cheer him up, which made him feel happy again. Mallo and children prepare to head on home by leaving Pushmo Park waving goodbye to Papa Blox.
Gameplay[]
The game opens with a cutscene showing the puzzles' basic mechanics and the player is then given three menus (four if the Pushmo Park is completed): Pushmo Park, the main area; Pushmo Studio, where the player can create their own Pushmos; and Tutorials, where the player can see agains the tutorials. The game has only one save file by console, although players can use Save-Data backup in the console's options to start a new game without overwrite the old one.
Gameplay is relatively simple. You push and pull blocks in a structure to climb up and rescue the child. The difficulty comes from arranging the platforms so you can climb up since you can only go up one step at a time. There are 2 modifiers that add to the gameplay; the manholes and pullout switches. The former allows Mallo to travel between the two points as long as both sides aren't covered. The latter pushes out all blocks of its respective color and sometimes pushing off Mallo. There are in total 250 puzzles in the game plus additional levels that can be added through scanning QR codes.
Differences from the other games[]
- Each world has 18 levels, in contrast to the rest of the series who only has 10.
- The game is the only in the series to be released the same year as the console who supports it.
- The game does not feature a animated introduction after pressing A in a new game, it instead bring the player right to the first level of the game.
- The title screen is not shown on the touch screen when "Press A to start" is shown. The touch screen is all grey.
- The Options menu is accessed by pressing Y, instead of being a tab in an entire menu.
- The credits are in the options menus instead og being a Extra.
- The game does not provide a Music Player.
- Papa Blox is the only one speaking in the game.
- The game is the only one who features Corrin as a antagonist.
- There are no special cutscene to introduce the player to the Bonus Pushmo.
- The option to zoom-in the minimap is only in this game.
- The game does not give the ability to change controls.
- This is the only game to feature Papa Blox giving a sentence on the level, if it is completed or not.
Reception[]
The game was received relatively well by critics, praising its originality and level of challenge. It has a Metacritic of 90 and a GameRankings of 91.5%
3DS eShop Description[]
- North American version
A kindly old inventor created a park and filled it with incredible puzzle-like climbing toys called Pushmo. But a little trickster has trapped kids inside the Pushmo, and now it's up to our hero, Mallo, to push, pull, and climb his way through the puzzling playground to save his friends!
The Pushmo™ game features over 250 fun and challenging puzzles. As you solve them, you'll discover new gadgets that will add to the challenge. Complete certain sets of Pushmo to open additional game features, such as Pushmo Studio. In Pushmo Studio, you can create, play, and even share your very own Pushmo puzzle creations! With adorable characters, charming 3D graphics, and endless replay value, puzzle fans of all ages should enjoy Pushmo™.
- European version
Pullblox is a unique part-puzzle, part-platform game that will tax your brain and creativity!
Children of Pullblox Park have been trapped inside giant block puzzles - 'pullblox' - that are as big as houses. So it's tiny hero Mallo to the rescue!
Climb the structures, pushing and pulling blocks to use as steps, and rescue the children. If you make a mistake, simply rewind time and try again!
There are more than 200 pullblox to enjoy, and you can also create your own in Pullblox Studio and exchange them with friends iva QR Code™.