Big Kahuna Reef

Last updated
Big Kahuna Reef
Big Kahuna Reef cover.jpeg
Developer(s) Reflexive Entertainment
Publisher(s) Reflexive Entertainment
Series Big Kahuna
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Mobile
Release
  • Microsoft Windows
  • December 22, 2004 [1]
  • Mac OS
  • November 9, 2005 [2]
  • Mobile
  • October 11, 2006 [3]
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single player, Multi-player

Big Kahuna Reef is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed by Reflexive Entertainment. Released in 2004, it was the first in a series of Big Kahuna titles. The look of the game is that of ocean scenes, exotic fish and tiki heads.

Contents

Gameplay

Big Kahuna Reef is set in an underwater reef with a board that is shaped like a grid, covered by various things that have to be matched up in vertical or horizontal lines of three or more. To pass the level and progress, a player must break all of them by making chains of objects (such as starfish or shells), before the time runs out. [4] Between levels, points are earned that unlock new fish and other undersea creatures. [5] During the interludes between levels, one can create and observe their personal reef and its creatures in the Fish Screen mode. [6]

A Relaxed Play feature allows the choice of any level, without any time limit. The game also includes an editor, giving the players an opportunity to make their own boards, making up to thousands of additional free user-created levels by people from around the world. [7]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot 8.5/10 [5]
Pocket Gamer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Gamezebo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Inside Mac Games 8/10 [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Half-Life</i> (video game) 1998 first-person shooter game

Half-Life is a first-person shooter video game developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios for Microsoft Windows in 1998. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. Players assume the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who must escape the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is invaded by aliens. The core gameplay consists of fighting alien and human enemies with a variety of weapons and solving puzzles.

<i>Ico</i> 2001/2002 video game

Ico is an action-adventure game developed by SCE Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game around a "boy meets girl" concept. Originally planned for the PlayStation, Ico took approximately four years to develop. The team employed a "subtracting design" approach to reduce elements of gameplay that interfered with the game's setting and story in order to create a high level of immersion.

<i>Half-Life 2</i> 2004 first-person shooter video game

Half-Life 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. Like the original Half-Life, it combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, and adds features such as vehicles and physics-based gameplay. Players control Gordon Freeman, who fights the alien Combine with allies including resistance fighter Alyx Vance, using weapons such as the object-manipulating gravity gun.

Steam (service) Video game digital distribution service

Steam is a video game digital distribution service by Valve. It was launched as a standalone software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to include games from third-party publishers. Steam has also expanded into an online web-based and mobile digital storefront. Steam offers digital rights management (DRM), server hosting, video streaming, and social networking services. It also provides the user with installation and automatic updating of games, and community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud storage, and in-game voice and chat functionality.

<i>Day of Defeat: Source</i>

Day of Defeat: Source is a team-based online first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve. Set in World War II, the game is a remake of Day of Defeat. It was updated from the GoldSrc engine used by its predecessor to the Source engine, and a remake of the game models. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 26, 2005, distributed through Valve's online content delivery service Steam. Retail distribution of the game was handled by Electronic Arts.

<i>Lumines: Puzzle Fusion</i> 2004 puzzle video game

Lumines: Puzzle Fusion is a 2004 puzzle game developed by Q Entertainment. It was published for PlayStation Portable (PSP) by Bandai in Japan and internationally by Ubisoft. Players rotate and drop blocks containing random tiles of two colors so they make filled rectangular shapes of the same color on the playing field. As the player progresses through the game it transitions between skins, affecting the colors and music.

<i>Titan Quest</i> 2006 action role playing hack and slash video game

Titan Quest is an action role playing hack and slash video game developed by Iron Lore Entertainment for Microsoft Windows personal computers. It was published by THQ in 2006. It was released on Steam in 2007, and later ported to mobile devices by DotEmu and released in 2016; later versions were published by THQ Nordic. Versions for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch were released in 2018. The story follows a player-created protagonist as they navigate Ancient Greece, Egypt and China on a quest to defeat the Titans after they escape from their ancient prison. The gameplay is similar to the Diablo series, with player navigation being handled with a mouse-driven tile-based interface, and gameplay revolving around role-playing mechanics and real-time combat. Three expansions were released for the game: Titan Quest: Immortal Throne in 2007, Titan Quest: Ragnarök in 2017 and Titan Quest: Atlantis in 2019.

<i>Spore</i> (2008 video game) 2008 video game

Spore is a 2008 life simulation real-time strategy God game developed by Maxis, published by Electronic Arts and designed by Will Wright, and was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Covering many genres including action, real-time strategy, and role-playing games, Spore allows a player to control the development of a species from its beginnings as a microscopic organism, through development as an intelligent and social creature, to interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture. It has drawn wide attention for its massive scope, and its use of open-ended gameplay and procedural generation. Throughout each stage, players are able to use various creators to produce content for their games. These are then automatically uploaded to the online Sporepedia and are accessible by other players for download.

<i>Fallout: New Vegas</i> 2010 action role-playing video game

Fallout: New Vegas is a post-apocalyptic action role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was announced in April 2009 and released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on October 19, 2010. A spin-off of the Fallout series, the game is set in a post-apocalyptic open world environment that encompasses a region consisting of Arizona, California, and Nevada. It is set in a world that deviated onto an alternate timeline thanks to Atomic Age technology, which eventually led to a global nuclear apocalypse in the year 2077 in an event referred to as "The Great War", caused by a major conflict between the U.S. and China over natural resources. The main story of New Vegas takes place in the year 2281, four years after the events of Fallout 3 and 204 years after the bombs fell. It is not a direct sequel, but does mark the return of several elements found in Fallout 2.

<i>Wheres My Water?</i>

Where's My Water? is a puzzle video game developed by American studio Creature Feep and published by Disney Mobile, a subsidiary of Disney Interactive Studios. Released for desktop web browsers and devices using iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 operating systems, the game requires players to route a supply of water to an alligator. Where's My Water? has been praised for its gameplay and its graphical style, with special recognition of its lead character, Swampy, the first original Disney character for a mobile game, voiced by actor, Justin T. Bowler. The game has inspired multiple spin-offs including: Where's My Perry?, Where's My Mickey?, Where's My Water? featuring XYY and Where's My Valentine?. This game was also released on Microsoft Windows in 2011. More mobile versions continued to be released through 2013.

<i>Hero of Many</i>

Hero of Many is an independent video game developed by Trickster Arts. It is an Action-adventure game for Android, iOS, Ouya and Windows. The Windows version was released on Steam on 15 September 2014. The game contains no dialogues and uses black silhouette graphics similar to Limbo. Hero of Many is inspired by the games Another World, Heart of Darkness and Abe's Oddysee.

<i>Crypt of the NecroDancer</i>

Crypt of the NecroDancer is a roguelike rhythm video game developed and published by Canadian independent game studio Brace Yourself Games. The game takes fundamental elements of a roguelike dungeon exploration game and adds a beat-matching rhythm game set to an original soundtrack written by Danny Baranowsky. The player's actions are most effective when moving the character set to the beat of the current song and are impaired when they miss a beat, so it is necessary to learn the rhythmic patterns that the various creatures follow. The mixed-genre game includes the ability to import custom music, and the option to use a dance pad instead of traditional controllers or the keyboard. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux in April 2015, being co-published by Klei Entertainment, for the PlayStation 4 and Vita in February 2016, for the Xbox One in February 2017, and for Nintendo Switch in February 2018. Crypt of the NecroDancer Pocket Edition, developed for iOS, was released in June 2016.

<i>Badland</i> (video game)

Badland is a mobile video game developed by Frogmind Games and released on the iOS and Android platforms. It was released on Windows Phone 8 in June 2014. There is also a Game of the Year Edition that was released in May 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Wii U and Steam for Linux, Microsoft Windows and OS X. In December 2015, its sequel Badland 2 was released on iOS and Android. For the same platforms a real time strategy spin-off, Badland Brawl, was released in September 2018, where gameplay is a mash-up between Angry Birds and Clash Royale.

<i>Runbow</i>

Runbow is a platform racing video game made originally for the Wii U and later ported to PC, New Nintendo 3DS, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Runbow was developed by Canadian indie team 13AM Games as their debut title, releasing it on 27 August 2015 in North America, 3 September 2015 in Europe, and 23 October 2015 in Australasia. The game was later released in Japan on 25 November 2015, courtesy of Cross Function.

<i>Ark: Survival Evolved</i> Action-adventure survival video game

Ark: Survival Evolved is a 2017 action-adventure survival video game developed by Studio Wildcard, in collaboration with Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, and Virtual Basement. In the game, players must survive being stranded on an island filled with roaming dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players.

<i>Stardew Valley</i> 2016 simulation video game

Stardew Valley is a simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. It was released for Microsoft Windows in February 2016, with ports later released for macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. Players take the role of a character who takes over his or her deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The game is open-ended, allowing players to take on activities such as growing crops, raising livestock, crafting goods, mining for ores, selling produce, and socializing with the townspeople, including marriage and having children. It also allows up to three other players to play together online.

Big Kahuna is a series of puzzle video games created by Reflexive Entertainment. Four games have been released in the series: Big Kahuna Reef, a tile-matching game, in 2004 for the PC; Big Kahuna Words, a boggle-style puzzle game released in 2005 for PC and 2008 for iOS; Big Kahuna Reef 2, a three in a row matchmaking game released in 2006 for PC; and Big Kahuna Party, a WiiWare tile-based party game released in 2008. All of the games in the series feature a Hawaiian theme, with oceans, exotic fish, and tiki heads.

<i>Pokémon Sun</i> and <i>Moon</i>

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are 2016 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. They are the first installments in the seventh generation of the Pokémon video game series. First announced in February 2016, Sun and Moon were released worldwide on 18 November 2016, commemorating the franchise's 20th anniversary. Two follow-up games, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, were released for the same consoles on 17 November 2017.

<i>Monster Hunter: World</i> 2018 action role-playing video game

Monster Hunter: World is an action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom, and the fifth mainline installment in the Monster Hunter series, it was released worldwide for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2018, with a Microsoft Windows version following in August 2018. In the game, the player takes the role of a Hunter, tasked to hunt down and either kill or trap monsters that roam in one of several environmental spaces. If successful, the player is rewarded through loot consisting of parts from the monster and other elements that are used to craft weapons and armor, amongst other equipment. The game's core loop has the player crafting appropriate gear to be able to hunt down more difficult monsters, which in turn provide parts that lead to more powerful gear. Players may hunt alone or in a group of up to four players via the game's online multiplayer.

<i>Baba Is You</i> 2019 puzzle video game

Baba Is You is a puzzle video game created by Finnish indie developer Arvi Teikari, released on 13 March 2019 for PC and Nintendo Switch. The game centers around the manipulation of "rules"—represented by tiles with words written on them—in order to allow the player character, usually the titular Baba, to reach a specified goal.

References

  1. "Big Kahuna Reef on Steam". Steam . Archived from the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  2. "Ricochet Lost Worlds, Big Kahuna Reef debut". Macintosh News Network. November 9, 2005. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  3. James, Chris (October 11, 2006). "Big Kahuna Reef dives onto mobile". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Maddox, Chris (October 26, 2006). "Big Kahuna Reef-Game review". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Colayco, Bob (September 26, 2006). "Big Kahuna Reef Review". Gamespot . Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Hruschak, PJ (September 11, 2006). "Big Kahuna Reef Review". Gamezebo . Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Bade, Ted (May 4, 2006). "Big Kahuna Reef". Inside Mac Games . Retrieved July 22, 2019.