Micro Review: Pipe Dream (NES)

Developer: Distinctive Software
Publisher: Bullet-Proof Software, Lucasarts (1990)

I find it very odd I had never heard of this game, except in passing, like when reading Chris Scullion’s NES Encyclopedia. This game has had a ton of iterations, across decades, on multiple systems. The first version of this game was the 1989 version of Pipe Mania, released on the Amiga. The NES version seems to have gotten something of a graphical upgrade from what I was able to notice, and the music choices are pretty catchy, and works well for the type of puzzle game it is; it gives at times some of the frenetic push that helps puzzle games like this and Tetris.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward, granted with some experimentation. You put down pieces of pipe that come from the list on the left-hand side of the screen. Pieces cannot be rotated, with unneeded pieces either having to be placed off to the side, or placed in your path in order to be blown up by a needed piece replacing it. There is a slight score/time penalty to blowing up pieces though, so you kind of have to be judicious in how you use that mechanic. After a set time delay, a liquid, called “Flooz” for this game starts coming through the track of pipe you have laid down. The level ends when the Flooz either cannot go through anymore pipes, or hits a wall. Clearing the level involves putting down a minimum amount of piping, and score is calculated by how long the track is, with bonuses for making tracks loop, using the cross-shaped pipes.

Would I rather play this over something like Tetris? Probably not. But this is a very competent puzzle game that I can see coming back to once in a while. I felt utterly stupid at first while playing it, but after a few tries, I found something approximating a groove. Pipe Dream is a game that hits that right ratio of frustration-to-satisfaction that a good puzzle game should.

Should you play it?: If you enjoy puzzle games, yes. Especially if you like puzzle games with quick individual levels. I cannot remember spending any more than 90 seconds on any level I actually completed. It is a quick, frenetic game that will actually wake you up in your pipe-laying panic. I am sure there are some crazy pros out there who can make the pipe-tracks last seemingly forever, and I am sure the later levels would ask that of me, at least in comparison to what I was accomplishing.