Crazy Arcade

''Crazy Arcade'' (Korean: 크레이지 아케이드) is a free Korean online multiplayer game developed by Nexon. It has offered up to five different game modes throughout its history: Bomb and Bubbles (BnB), Tetris, Hidden Catch, Dizzy Pang, and Bz. However, the latter four were eventually removed from the game. BnB, which takes on the classic ''Bomberman'' series, adds its own twist to the game by replacing ''Bomberman'''s bombs with water balloons. ''Crazy Arcade'''s success spawned a franchise, having been followed by the release of the games ''CrazyRacing KartRider'', ''CrazyShooting BubbleFighter'', and ''CrazyRacing AirRider''.

Nexon announced that they will be bringing ''Crazy Arcade'', as well as ''Dragon Nest'' and '' Mabinogi Heroes'' to America in 2010 under their new game portal
Block Party
On December 7, 2009, Nexon America launched the official website for ''PopTag!'', which is the North American name of Crazy Arcade. Nexon has decided to forgo the closed beta testing phase and jump right into an open beta. The open beta of ''PopTag!'' began on January 26 and ended a month later. ''PopTag!'' was closed by publishers Nexon America on July 14, 2011 due to "multiple factors including the nbility to deliver new content regularly due to the limited resources ..available for the game".

Gameplay

Players must kill their opponents by setting water balloons that pop and release water both vertically and horizontally. Being exposed to the water causes characters to become trapped in a bubble. If a teammate makes contact with a trapped player, the player is released from the bubble. If an opponent does the same, however, or if the player does not make any contact within a short period of time, the player dies, which may or may not remove the player from play, depending on the mode of gameplay.

Up to eight people can battle in a room either by Manner or Free mode. But in other cases, there is a limit. For example, in Village 10, there can only be six people at a time, as there is no more room to spawn in that area. In Manner mode, teams are evenly divided by color. Free mode allows teams to be arranged in any way that suits the players.

Experience points are awarded for completing a match, more for a victory than a draw which gives more experience points than a loss, and gaining enough points will result in a level-up. Different channels are available for specific groups of levels.

Characters

There are eight default playable characters in ''Crazy Arcade'' and they are Dao, Dizni, Ethen, Uni, Mos, Kephi, Marid and Bazzi. Two additional characters, Lodumani and Santa Claus, may also have a chance of being playable when a player selects Random on the character select screen. Furthermore, an upgraded version of Evie called "Luxury Marid" (Posh Evie in America) and a different version of Plunk called "Luxury Kephi" can be purchased at the game shop for cash. Currently, "Luxury Dao", the upgraded version of Dao is in Sale in Korea, too.

Each character possesses a different set of initial and maximum stats. ''Count'' refers to how many water balloons the character can carry at once. ''Power'' refers to his or her balloons' burst radius. ''Speed'' refers to how fast he or she moves. ''Normal'' denotes well-roundedness in all areas. The characters are listed along with their primary advantage, as specified on the game's official Korean website.

Ranking system

''Crazy Arcade'' uses a level and exp-based ranking system. There are currently 720 distinct levels. Each level is represented by four elements of categorization. From the most general to most specific, these elements are: the medal's shape, the medal's color, the stripes' color, and the stripes' number. Specific shop items, maps, and channels can only be accessed by players of certain levels.

In addition to the medal system, there is a ladder system. Ladder ranks take precedence over levels.

Map themes

BnB features at least twenty differently themed regions, each containing a number of playable maps. Winning conditions vary among each region; while in most maps a player can win by eliminating all opponents, some regions encourage players to win by clearing specific "missions" that are unique to each region.

A series of upgraded regions (indicated by an "Ex" prefix) can only be accessed by playing at a participating PC bang or purchasing a room upgrade from the game's online shop.

Mobile Crazy Arcade(M)

On the mobile! Crazy arcade BnB M! It is similar with original Crazy Arcade but has more skills.

Reception

GameZone's Michael Splechta gave the game an 8/10, saying "PopTag! is a fun game that doesn't require players to invest a ton of time into it to enjoy themselves. It has fun modes that let players enjoy the game on their own, and short VS. matches that can get extremely competitive."

See also

* ''KartRider''
* ''Online Bomberman''

References

{{reflist

External links

Chinese SiteNexon America, English American Site
(discontinued July 14, 2011)

(discontinued)
Former Taiwanese SiteCurrent Taiwanese SiteKorean Site

2001 video games
Video games developed in South Korea
Maze games
Multiplayer online games
Single-player online games
Nexon games
Windows games
Windows-only games