Stretchmo (HikuDasu: Hippa Land in Japan, Fullblox in PAL regions) is a free-to-start entry in the Pushmo-series that introduces enemy characters and expanding platforms into the mix. Players have to purchase additional levels past the tutorial.
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Game about stretching blocks.
I want to stretch Mo.
How do Americans put up with these names?
Stretchmo is another game I've owned for ages and bought on the 3DS a loooong time ago around the time I finished the original Pushmo and then played through Crashmo. I never ended up really getting into it though, as my obsession with the series petered out, and it's been awaiting me on my 3DS ever since. After finishing Pushmo World earlier this month, I thought it was high time I went through this final entry in the series, and I had a blast doing it. It took me around 15 hours to beat all 300 puzzles in the English version of the game on my New 3DS XL.
Stretchmo is more of a return to form after Crashmo, but it's also a very wild spin in other ways. The story is still quite as similar as always. A troublesome agent goes wild and traps a bunch of kids in the Stretchmo in the Stretchmo Park, and Mallo goes to save them. However, there is a twist! And not just presentation-wise, but also via the game's business model. There are 100 levels in Mallo's adventure, but then three other characters from prior games also get their own 50 levels sets, and there's a super tough final 50 awaiting anyone who finishes the previous 250. The initial download of Stretchmo is actually free, and you pay for as many of the four packs as you want with the total price of all four adding up to the same total as what Pushmo and Crashmo were. It's a really neat approach to selling the games, allowing you to pay for as much as you think you'll play, and I think it's a welcome innovation (even if this was the last game in the series).
Mechanically, it's much more like Pushmo than Crashmo is, but it's also a lot like a meeting of the two. Where Pushmo was about pulling blocks in and out from a fixed picture with a fixed camera, and Crashmo was about pulling and pushing around blocks that could move and fall and had a rotating camera, Stretchmo is about stretching fixed 3D block sculptures with a rotating camera. It's basically like if Pushmo puzzles were 3D sculptures instead of sets of 2D panels you interact with, and you can pull blocks out from any direction two spaces. That's right, two spaces, not three like Pushmo. It may seem like a small change, but in the grand scheme of things, it allows for drastically different approaches to puzzles when combined with the 3D element, and even though a handful of puzzles return from Pushmo, these new rules make them an a totally new beast to conquer.
The four sets of puzzles are also different from one another in theme. Mallo's are very standard, having a mix of "mural" (it's supposed to look like something) and regular "challenge" (it's just blocks that form a puzzle regardless of shape) puzzles. Poppy (the girl whom you help get her birds back in Crashmo) has stages that are all about murals. Papa Blox (the elderly owner of the Stretchmo and Crashmo parks) has his NES Expo all themed around what else but NES sprites. Finally, Corin (the mischievous antagonist-turned friend from Pushmo 1) has his Fortress of Fun, which introduces the very odd addition of enemies to the series. You can ride around on these enemies heads to get you into new areas, and they add a really cool, dynamic mix of gameplay options. His puzzles are also some of the hardest in the game, being that you can actually get killed by these enemies and restart at the bottom of the puzzle. Even though Stretchmo still has the series' rewind feature, Corin's is generally far shorter than the others' rewind clocks, and you can't rewind to before a death. These different characters and different puzzle styles, in addition to helping make the difficulty curve of the game more easily visible and concrete, really help add some variety to the game and keep the experience fresh in a way that none of the other games really approach.
The presentation is as cute and bubbly as ever, with relaxing, chill music as your adorable little character solves bright, colorful puzzles. The level editor is also here again, and given that you share puzzles via QR codes and not via the Miiverse, the ability to make and share levels is technically still totally available here (unlike Pushmo World). It's not terribly original, being that it's aesthetically still very similar to the other three games in the series, but as far as I'm concerned: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This is the swansong (for now at least) of the Pushmo franchise, and it's easily the best of the bunch. Toting a whopping 300 puzzles, I believe it also has the most puzzles out of any of them, as well as the best variety of gameplay in addition to one of the better difficulty curves. If you only play one game in the Pushmo series, you should have it be Stretchmo. Between the very approachable business model and the general great quality of the game, this is an excellent addition to any 3DS owner's library, and if we cross our fingers, maybe someday the series will even get a Switch port X3
Stretchmo is more of a return to form after Crashmo, but it's also a very wild spin in other ways. The story is still quite as similar as always. A troublesome agent goes wild and traps a bunch of kids in the Stretchmo in the Stretchmo Park, and Mallo goes to save them. However, there is a twist! And not just presentation-wise, but also via the game's business model. There are 100 levels in Mallo's adventure, but then three other characters from prior games also get their own 50 levels sets, and there's a super tough final 50 awaiting anyone who finishes the previous 250. The initial download of Stretchmo is actually free, and you pay for as many of the four packs as you want with the total price of all four adding up to the same total as what Pushmo and Crashmo were. It's a really neat approach to selling the games, allowing you to pay for as much as you think you'll play, and I think it's a welcome innovation (even if this was the last game in the series).
Mechanically, it's much more like Pushmo than Crashmo is, but it's also a lot like a meeting of the two. Where Pushmo was about pulling blocks in and out from a fixed picture with a fixed camera, and Crashmo was about pulling and pushing around blocks that could move and fall and had a rotating camera, Stretchmo is about stretching fixed 3D block sculptures with a rotating camera. It's basically like if Pushmo puzzles were 3D sculptures instead of sets of 2D panels you interact with, and you can pull blocks out from any direction two spaces. That's right, two spaces, not three like Pushmo. It may seem like a small change, but in the grand scheme of things, it allows for drastically different approaches to puzzles when combined with the 3D element, and even though a handful of puzzles return from Pushmo, these new rules make them an a totally new beast to conquer.
The four sets of puzzles are also different from one another in theme. Mallo's are very standard, having a mix of "mural" (it's supposed to look like something) and regular "challenge" (it's just blocks that form a puzzle regardless of shape) puzzles. Poppy (the girl whom you help get her birds back in Crashmo) has stages that are all about murals. Papa Blox (the elderly owner of the Stretchmo and Crashmo parks) has his NES Expo all themed around what else but NES sprites. Finally, Corin (the mischievous antagonist-turned friend from Pushmo 1) has his Fortress of Fun, which introduces the very odd addition of enemies to the series. You can ride around on these enemies heads to get you into new areas, and they add a really cool, dynamic mix of gameplay options. His puzzles are also some of the hardest in the game, being that you can actually get killed by these enemies and restart at the bottom of the puzzle. Even though Stretchmo still has the series' rewind feature, Corin's is generally far shorter than the others' rewind clocks, and you can't rewind to before a death. These different characters and different puzzle styles, in addition to helping make the difficulty curve of the game more easily visible and concrete, really help add some variety to the game and keep the experience fresh in a way that none of the other games really approach.
The presentation is as cute and bubbly as ever, with relaxing, chill music as your adorable little character solves bright, colorful puzzles. The level editor is also here again, and given that you share puzzles via QR codes and not via the Miiverse, the ability to make and share levels is technically still totally available here (unlike Pushmo World). It's not terribly original, being that it's aesthetically still very similar to the other three games in the series, but as far as I'm concerned: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This is the swansong (for now at least) of the Pushmo franchise, and it's easily the best of the bunch. Toting a whopping 300 puzzles, I believe it also has the most puzzles out of any of them, as well as the best variety of gameplay in addition to one of the better difficulty curves. If you only play one game in the Pushmo series, you should have it be Stretchmo. Between the very approachable business model and the general great quality of the game, this is an excellent addition to any 3DS owner's library, and if we cross our fingers, maybe someday the series will even get a Switch port X3
I hope Nintendo keeps this franchise alive, the puzzles are very amazing and creative.
One of the most creative puzzle games I've ever played. Needs a sequel on Switch. (Switchmo?)