Bejeweled 2

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Bejeweled 2
Bejeweled2cover.jpg
Developer(s) PopCap Games
Oberon Media (Xbox 360)
Astraware (Windows Mobile)
Publisher(s) PopCap Games
Sony Online Entertainment (PSN)
Electronic Arts
(Android)
Designer(s) Jason Kapalka [1]
Composer(s) Peter Hajba
Series Bejeweled
Engine PopCap Games Framework
Platform(s) Windows
macOS
Browser
Flash
PDA Palm OS
Windows Mobile
iOS
Xbox 360
XBLA
iPod
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Network PSN PlayStation Portable
WiiWare
Symbian^3
Android
BlackBerry PlayBook
Release
November 5, 2004
  • Windows
    • NA: November 5, 2004 [2]
    XBLA
    • NA: November 22, 2005
    • EU: December 2, 2005
    iPod classic
    • NA: September 12, 2006
    iOS
    (discontinued)
    • NA: July 3, 2008
    PlayStation 2
    • NA: May 24, 2007
    • EU: July 17, 2007
    PlayStation 3
    • NA: January 29, 2009
    • EU: May 19, 2009 [3]
    WiiWare
    • NA: June 14, 2010
    • EU: December 31, 2010
    iOS (iPad-optimized)
    (discontinued)
    • NA: June 1, 2010
    • PAL: May 29, 2010
    • JP: 2011
    PlayStation Portable
    • NA: June 28, 2010
    Android
    • WW: February 19, 2011
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player

Bejeweled 2 (also referred as Bejeweled 2 Deluxe in some releases) is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. Released as a sequel to Bejeweled , Bejeweled 2 introduces new game mechanics, such as Special Gems and extra game modes, along with new visuals and sounds.

Contents

The game was originally released on November 5, 2004, [4] and has been ported to several platforms following its release, including game consoles, smartphones and in-flight entertainment services.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Bejeweled 2 involves swapping two adjacent gems to form a line of three or more gems of the same color. When three gems are lined up, they disappear and cause randomly generated gems to fall from the top to take the matched gems' place. Sometimes, falling gems automatically line up, causing chain reactions. If the player is unable to find a match, the player can use the Hint button to find an available match at the cost of several points. They can also wait several seconds for an automatic Hint feature to trigger without penalty.

Creating matches of four or more gems will create powered-up gems known as Special Gems. When four gems are matched at once, or when the player makes two matches in an L, T, or + shape, a Power Gem is created, which destroys the eight gems surrounding it when matched. When a match of five or more gems is made, a Hypercube is created, which destroys all gems of the swapped gem's color from the board.

Two other gems also appear in the Puzzle, Cognito, and Finity modes. Rocks are solid objects that cannot be matched but can be destroyed using special gems. Bombs have a green numerical counter on them that decreases every move. When it depletes to 0, it explodes similarly to the Power Gem.

Bejeweled 2 features several different gameplay modes. Four (five if the hidden Original mode is counted) game modes are available from the start, and the secret game modes (Twilight, Hyper, Cognito, and Finity) are unlocked after reaching specific benchmarks in each of the game modes. If a secret game mode is discovered, a question mark button will appear on the main menu screen, which shows the secret game modes.

Some versions of the game, such as the WiiWare, iOS, Android, and in-flight entertainment versions of the game lack secret game modes.

Development

Development on Bejeweled 2 began sometime around 2002. The PopCap team commenced work on a sequel to Bejeweled and wanted to add several new features to make it unique. Ideas such as Special Gems were conceptualized throughout the development of the game. At one point, the Rocks and Bombs from Puzzle were originally meant to appear in the other game modes but were limited to Puzzle only to prevent the game from becoming unappealing. The development team also decided to minimalize the game's UI to make it easier to use, as the first game had a single-screen UI to prevent large file sizes. [5] This game is the first to feature a recurring sci-fi theme throughout the series, which would appear in various Bejeweled games following until the full release of Bejeweled Blitz. According to game designer Jason Kapalka, the game's sci-fi theme mainly originated due to his interest in the Mojoworld rendering software, [6] where the game's planetary backdrops would also originate. [7]

Like the first game, the music of the game was composed by Peter "Skaven" Hajba. [7]

Release

Bejeweled 2 was originally released for PCs on November 5, 2004. A version for Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, and Palm OS was developed by Astraware.

Bejeweled 2 Deluxe was released for the Xbox 360 as a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game on November 22, 2005. The Xbox 360 version is playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S as part of the backward compatibility program. In 2007, the game was released on the PlayStation 2 alongside another PopCap game, AstroPop as a two-game compilation pack as PopCap Hits! Volume 1. Digital ports on the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable were released on January 29, 2009, and June 28, 2010, respectively. A port for the Wii's WiiWare platform, which lacked the secret game modes but incorporated the system's Miis into the game, was released on June 14, 2010.

PopCap released a version for iOS in 2008, which would later be renamed to Bejeweled 2 + Blitz following the addition of the Blitz game mode. In 2010, an Android version was released. Both versions would be discontinued following the release of Bejeweled Classic on each platform.

Bejeweled 2 was also released for PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network on January 29, 2009, on the Wii via WiiWare on June 14, 2010, and on PlayStation Portable on June 28, 2010.

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References

  1. Bejeweled 2 Readme: Credits Archived June 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Bejeweled 2 Readme Archived June 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Bejeweled 2 at PSN UK
  4. 1 2 "Bejeweled® 2 Deluxe Readme". June 1, 2010. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  5. Classic Game Postmortem - Bejeweled , retrieved October 19, 2021
  6. "Nick C. on X: 'for the now few bejeweled fans out there: here's a few things I learned - playing around with MojoWorld was what led to the creation of the series' sci-if theme back in '04-'09; interest of hand drawn fantasy worlds is what led to the change to the franchise's theme as of 2010'". Twitter. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Bejeweled 2 Deluxe Readme". June 1, 2010. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2021.