Graphics have never been the forte of the puzzle genre, and Spin Jam doesn't come out as the exception to prove the rule. Although the graphics in the game certainly aren't ugly, and the characters have a delightful cartoony appeal, they are simple, 2D, and get the job done quite nicely. I found the main menu a bit confusing, until I noticed that the mode that you are in is displayed in the background. Duh.

The same goes for the sound. The music isn't terrible, and in fact is rather hum-able, but you'll find yourself humming it only during the gametime. It's not something that's going to stick with you for much longer than that. The voice acting is rather amusing, with cute little voices saying various things that relate to the character (I particularly liked Lemon's little lines). They're nothing amazing, but they're certainly a nice touch.

Funnily enough, that pretty much sums up the gameplay of Spin Jam. It's nothing really special, but it sure as hell is nice. And if you're a puzzle fan, you absolutely can't go wrong with this budget-priced title. Hell, even if you're not, you can afford to pick it up.

Spin Jam consists of bubbles, or some close approximation thereof. You shoot them and attach them to a central cog, which you can rotate. They also fly in from the edges of the playfield at the higher game levels. The object is to get enough of them together so that they'll pop. Whenever this happens, the bubbles on the opposite side of the cog launch into space. If they touch petal-shaped objects that match their colors, or are rainbow-colored, they get stuck in the petal. Enough bubbles in the petals and the petal pops. Pop all the petals in the level and you proceed to the next one. Like all good puzzle games, Spin Jam takes a simple play mechanic and makes an art form out of it.

Of course, it's more complex than that. There are all sorts of crazy special bubbles that blow up entire sections (good!), or randomized bubbles (bad!). There's also the whole poisonous bubble bit. If a bubble gets attached to the spindle that hangs out into 'space,' it becomes poisonous. This poison creeps towards the center of the spindle. If it gets there before it's eliminated (launching the poisoned bubbles into the air does that), you lose the game. Of course, it's often hard as hell to launch said bubbles, so you've got to get cracking if you don't want to die.

There are plenty of play modes. You can play in Arcade mode, where you must beat more than eighty levels of bubble-popping action. Sometimes the petals rotate, other times they're of colors you definitely don't want. As you complete the levels, parts of a picture of the character you're playing as appear in the Gallery. It's useless, but little added features are always cool. There's also a Story mode, where you go against the other Jammers, and a Versus mode where you can play against a friend. In all of the cases, getting a poison bubble to the center of the spinner loses the game.

What more can one say? In action-puzzle games like this and Tetris, only so much can be said about how the game plays. You learn best by getting into the game and blasting away for a few hours. And that's very easy to do with Spin Jam.

The Arcade mode starts off deceptively easy, but by the tenth or eleventh level, chances are you're going to start sweating a little. 20 in, and it's no longer a little. And you still have 60-plus levels to go! Heh. This is definitely not a one-shot game. The Story mode ramps up a little faster, which is understandable, as they didn't make up 90 characters for you to defeat. As in any game of the genre, practice will do you more good than any studying of style or reading of instructions. Prepare for a difficult battle if you really want to be a Spin Jam master, however.

The controls in Spin Jam are simple and intuitively obvious, as any good puzzle game should be. The one thing that was ambiguous for me (at least, when I didn't have an instruction book) was how to execute my 'special move.' But those of you who purchase the game won't have that little problem. The main menu was a bit confusing to me at first, but once I figured out the trick (read the background), it was simple enough. Utilitarian and still poppy and sweet, the game definitely has a tight presentation and good navigability.

Sure, Spin Jam doesn't have the staying power of, say, Tetris, which people will be playing well into the 45th century. But Spin Jam is a damn fine puzzle game, taking a little inspiration from the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move series and giving it a mental 90-degree rotation. At a low, low price and a high, high value, you really can't go wrong with Spin Jam. Pick it up. Now.