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Columns (Japanese: コラムス, Hepburn: Koramusu) is a match-three puzzle video game released by Sega in 1990. Designed by Jay Geertsen, it was released by Sega for arcades and then ported to several Sega consoles. The game was subsequently ported to home computer platforms, including the Atari ST.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2015)

Columns
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Jay Geertsen[1]
Composer(s)	Tokuhiko Uwabo
Platform(s)	Arcade Arcade, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Sega CD, Game Gear, Atari ST, PC-Engine, FM Towns, NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, X68000, MSX2, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Virtual Console, iOS, ZX Spectrum
Release	March 1990 Arcade JP: March 1990[2][3] NA: June 1990[4][5] EU: August 1990[6] Mega Drive/Genesis JP: June 30, 1990 NA: September 1990[7] EU: February 1991[8] Game Gear JP: October 6, 1990 EU: April 26, 1991 NA: April 26, 1991 MSX2 JP: December 25, 1990 PC Engine JP: March 29, 1991 X68000 JP: October 16, 1991[9]
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Columns was one of the many tile-matching puzzle games to appear after the great success of Tetris in the late 1980s.[10] The area of play is enclosed within a tall, rectangular playing area. Columns of three different symbols (such as differently-colored jewels) appear, one at a time, at the top of the well and fall to the bottom, landing either on the floor or on top of previously-fallen "columns". While a column is falling, the player can move it left and right, and can also cycle the positions of the symbols within it. After a column lands, if three or more of the same symbols are connected in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, those symbols disappear. The pile of columns then settles under gravity. If this resettlement causes three or more other symbols to align, they too disappear and the cycle repeats. Occasionally, a special column with a multicolor Magic Jewel appears. It destroys all the jewels with the same color as the one underneath it. The columns fall at a faster rate as the player progresses. The goal of the game is to play for as long as possible before the well fills up with jewels, which ends the game. Players can score up to 99,999,999 points.[11]

Some ports of the game offer alternate game modes as well. "Flash columns" involves mining their way through a set number of lines to get to a flashing jewel at the bottom. "Doubles" allows two players work together in the same well. "Time trial" involves racking up as many points as possible within the time limit.^{[citation needed]}

Ports

Sega ported the arcade game to the Mega Drive/Genesis console. This version of the game was nearly identical to the original arcade game.[1]

Columns was the first pack-in game for the Game Gear. This version was slightly different from the Mega Drive/Genesis version and its soundtrack was transposed and rearranged due to the limitations of the handheld's sound chip. While the columns themselves were updated for the Mega Drive/Genesis version, the overall decoration was less like a cartoon in the Game Gear version and instead more artistically designed. Lastly, the Game Gear version had a feature that let the player change the jewels to fruit, squares, dice, or playing card suits (clubs, diamonds, spades, and hearts).

In 1990, Compile and Telenet Japan developed and published an MSX2 version.

On November 7, 2006, Columns was released as part of the game Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2, and later on another release of the above compilation for PlayStation Portable. On December 4, 2006 the title was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console for 800 Wii Points. It is also included on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[12] It was included as one of the games in the Sega Genesis Mini. Most recently the game was ported to iOS by Sega,^{[citation needed]} but the port was subsequently withdrawn by Sega.[13][14]

Music

Tokuhiko Uwabo composed the music for Columns. The song "Clotho" is named after the Greek Moira of the same name, related to the Greek flavor of some of the game's art. The other main songs are titled "Atropos"[15] and "Lathesis" (sic[16]), other "Moirai".

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Columns on their April 15, 1990 issue as being the eighth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[27] It went on to be Japan's fourth highest-grossing arcade game of 1990 (below Capcom's Final Fight and Sega's Tetris and Super Monaco GP)[28] and third highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1991 (below Capcom's Street Fighter II and Sega's Tetris).[29]

Reviewing the game's appearance in Sega Arcade Classics for the Sega CD, Glenn Rubenstein gave it a B+ rating in Wizard magazine, describing it as "like Tetris but a bit better."[26] Mega placed the game at number 34 in their "Top Mega Drive Games of All Time".[30] In 2017, Gamesradar ranked the game 40th on its "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time."[31]

Legacy

Many sequels and spin-offs were produced: Columns II: The Voyage Through Time, Columns III: Revenge of Columns, Columns '97, Sakura Taisen: Hanagumi Taisen Columns 1 & 2, and many compilations and re-releases (Columns Arcade Collection, Sega Ages Vol. 07: Columns) as well. Because Columns was made by Sega, versions were made available on the Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD, Game Gear, Saturn, and Dreamcast. Additional versions of the game have also been made available on PC-Engine, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation 2. A Super Famicom version was released in Japan via the Nintendo Power service.[32] The Game Boy Color version was specifically called Columns GB: Osamu Tezuka Characters, where it featured many of his characters such as Kimba and Astroboy, but also featured slightly less known characters such as Unico.^{[citation needed]}

Columns has also been cloned many times across different platforms:

Title	Platform	Release date	Developer	Publisher	Notes
Coloris	Amiga	1990	Signum Victoriae	Avesoft
Magic Jewelry	NES		Hwang Shinwei	RCM Group	The title is the best known of all its clones, and was released on unlicensed Famicom multicarts.
Columns	ZX Spectrum	1991	Piter Ltd.	Piter Ltd.
Magic Jewelry II	NES		Hwang Shinwei	RCM Group	With the addition of new features, it is the sequel to Magic Jewelry.
Jewelbox	Macintosh	1992	Rodney and Brenda Jacks	Varcon Systems
Yahoo! Towers	Java	1999/2000	Yahoo! Games	Yahoo! Games	This clone allows up to eight players to compete against each other.
BREF Columns	IOS, Android	2013	Mumblecore	Mumblecore
Magic Jewelry 3		2015	Guolin Ou	Guolin Ou	A magic column appears when a level is cleared, with which a player can clear all the jewels in same color.
Molums		2018	Antonelli Francisco	Wisefox

References

External links

• Columns at the Killer List of Videogames
• Columns at MobyGames
• Columns for Virtual Console (in Japanese)

На других языках

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[de] Columns (Computerspiel)

Columns (gesprochen Kolumns vom lateinischen columna für „Säulen“) ist ein Arcade-Spiel, das von der Firma Sega entwickelt und im Jahr 1990 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Spiel besitzt Ähnlichkeiten mit Tetris. In Deutschland wurde der Sega Game Gear, vergleichbar mit Nintendos Vermarktung des Game Boy zusammen mit Tetris, in der Standardausführung mit Columns ausgeliefert.

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- [en] Columns (video game)

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[es] Columns

Columns (コラムス en japonés, también llamado Jewels y Shapes and Columns en Brasil) es un videojuego arcade del género puzle muy similar a Tetris. Fue creado en 1989 por Jay Geertsen (no Geertson, como se acredita erróneamente en la versión para Windows) de Hewlett-Packard para el X Window System. Nathan Meyers lo portó a DOS, Chris Christensen al Apple Macintosh. John Rotenstein creó la primera versión para Windows basándose en la versión de Christensen para Macintosh. También fue portado al Atari ST en el modo monocromo de alta resolución.[1] En 1990 Jay Geertsen vendió los derechos a Sega que lo portó a sus plataformas arcade Sega System C-2 y Sega Mega-Tech y a casi todas sus videoconsolas, además de darle el aspecto visual de joyas.

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[fr] Columns (jeu vidéo)

Columns (コラムス?), aussi appelé Jewels ou Shapes and Columns, est un jeu vidéo de puzzle conçu par Jay Geertsen en 1989. Après en avoir racheté les droits, Sega a commercialisé le jeu sur borne d'arcade en 1990 et de multiples adaptations sur supports familiaux ont suivi, notamment sur les consoles Sega. Le jeu a également engendré plusieurs suites. Le jeu a été porté en 2002 dans une version homebrew sur Neo-Geo MVS[1].

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[it] Columns

Columns (コラムス Koramusu?) è un videogioco simile a Tetris sviluppato nel 1990 per le console Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear[1], Virtual Console, Arcade, TurboGrafx-16, Sega Mega CD.

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[ru] Columns

Columns (яп. コラムス Корамусу) — видеоигра в жанре puzzle, вышедшая в 1990 году для игровой приставки Sega Mega Drive. Впоследствии неоднократно переиздавалась на другие платформы. У игры есть сиквел Columns II никогда не выходивший за пределами Японии. С 2010 года игра доступна в составе сборника SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics для платформ Linux, macOS, Windows, с 2018 — PlayStation 4, Xbox One[2] и Nintendo Switch[3].

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