Treasures of Montezuma Blitz has the fundamentals of a decent match-three game. Each game lasts 60 seconds, so you're looking at a further five minutes of enjoyment. You're given five plays for free which gradually restock over time, or you can pay for another round of five games at a cost of 79p. It's not what you want in a casual puzzler.Īnd its business model of charging money for play time is just as abrasive. It takes 40 seconds to load up and start a game from the Vita's main menu: the initial loading screen is slow, and automatically connecting to SEN takes its toll. Treasures of Montezuma Blitz's two biggest problems relate to time. Though you can use the D-pad to make your moves, it's much simpler to swap jewels with a swipe of the touchscreen. Max it out and you activate a Score Frenzy, which nets you bonus points.

There's also a vial of sand on the left-hand side of the screen that gradually drains unless you add to it by scoring regularly. You can build substantial scores in other ways, such as by destroying multiple jewels at once to gain a combo, or connecting lines of four or more jewels at once.

You can also earn power-ups by increasing your XP and by extension your 'rank'. Some jewels also contain crystals, which add to your points total and serve as currency for power-ups. More jewels then fall from the top of the screen, filling up the empty spaces on the board.

On first appearance Treasures of Montezuma Blitz is your typical Bejeweled clone: line-up a minimum of three jewels of the same colour horizontally or vertically to remove them from play and score. So it's a pity that the game is a run-of-the-mill match-three puzzler, beset by a few technical shortcomings and premium content that feels miserly. As the first foray into freemium gaming on the Vita, Treasures of Montezuma Blitz represents a big step forward for handheld consoles, which so far have failed to embrace in-app purchases.

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