Another week, and another review here at 360sync. This week, I’m taking a look at recent XBLA release Poker Smash. Does it compare to other puzzle games on XBLA? Does it turn into a crazy game of poker? Do I end up shirtless, broke, and homeless in this cold Montana winter? Read on to find out.

Poker Smash is, at first look, another matching tiles puzzle game. Pieces go up the board slowly, and you must match them up correctly to clear them before they reach the top. The difference here? Poker Smash uses poker hands to clear tiles. The pieces are 10-Ace, all four suits, and you can of course match up the colors to get 3 of a kinds and such, but you can also do straights, flushes, full houses, and the like. It adds a whole dimension to the gameplay of not just looking match the green to the green one, as we’ve been doing for a while now. It takes a bit to get used to not just matching colors, but when you do, you start stringing combos together which starts up a score multiplier. There also are powers on the side, bombs, which slowly replenish with matching up tiles, they clear 1 tile from the board that is just messing everything up for you, and a slow down mode, which also rebuilds when not being used. It does exactly what it says, slows it all down, use it when you are almost ready to lose, and match a bunch of tiles to bring the height back down. These powers are enough to add more strategy to the game, but not to much to where it breaks the gameplay, or makes it too easy. There are also challenges that pop up randomly, which challenges you to create a specific hand, and if you do, you get bonus points.

The slo-mo feature in action.

The sounds of the game work well, with the music changing enough so no track seems to overstay its welcome, and the background of the game changing along with it. The announcers voice seems to fit perfectly with the game, letting you know what kind of hands you are getting, and when other events such and challenges happen. The game also looks pretty good, with a nice sheen on everything, with extra little touches, like the lightning when you get matches. As normal your score is shown in the normal counter spot like any game, but is also shown in a set of poker chips on the left side. The little things help.

The multiplayer looks like any other puzzle multiplayer, two puzzle boards, side by side, but here, each side starts with a large bankroll, and you win by either taking your opponents full bankroll, or making his board scroll all the way to the top. It seems to work really well, you feel like you have a chance to win all the way to the end. There are numerous single player modes as well. The normal mode, where the scrolling just comes faster and faster, and it ends when it makes it to the top. There is a timed mode where you try and score as much as you can in a limited amount of time, a practice mode, where it only scrolls when you make it, in case you are having trouble and need to practice a bit obviously, and my personal favorite other mode, puzzle. In it you get a certain set amount of cards and you have to clear the board. Some of them can get very trick, but it will help you learn beginner, to advanced techniques to take on the other modes.

Haven’t gotten my multiplier up this high…..yet.

Poker Smash is a great take on a classic formula, with enough tweaks to keep it interesting for a long time to come. With the different ways of making matches than your average puzzler, the slow down and bomb techniques, and just the good presentation overall, it turns out to be one of the best puzzle games on XBLA. I think most people should at least try the demo, especially the puzzle game fanatics, as this should be another excellent addition to their library.

What do you think of Poker Smash? Let us know in the comments!