Whether it is the Karma variety or the poor unfortunate creature that die the day before it was due to be the living representative of Corel's new CorelDRAW X3 product logo, a chameleon has the ability to change colour when circumstances demand.  The game of Chameleon Gems, from Dekovir, incorporates this colour changing aspect within its scope but more of this feature a little later.

For those familiar with games such as Luxor, Zuma or Atlantis, then Chameleon Gems is another of the arcade puzzle challenge genre.  The object of the game is to destroy a moving chain of different coloured items before it reaches its bolt hole and escapes into the wild.  In the case of this game the items are gems, hence that part of the game's title.  Your means of destruction is provided by a centrally positioned stone idol of a chameleon - thus we have Chameleon Gems.

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The chameleon can be swung to face any direction and spits out coloured gems under the control of the mouse.  By taking aim in this way you can add gems of the appropriate colour to a group of two or more of the same hue which results in these gems being destroyed.  Some of the gems possess special powers, which once released, will provide assistances.  These power-ups include the ability to destroy a section with a fireball; remove individual gems with a laser or stone gun; and match gems of any colour.

Many of these features are fairly standard with this game genre.  However they are not the limit of the game's feature set.  Some of the gems piggyback a second or even more gems of different colours.  When the host gem is removed, the second gem will replace it so bringing the colour changing ability of the chameleon to the game.

A second colour changing ability comes with the innovative Shop element of this game.  As you complete each level of the game you are rewarded with points and cash.  The latter can be used to purchase power-ups in the form of extra lives and new chameleon skins that have additional powers and effects to help you succeed. 

Chameleon Gems consists of 15 stages, each with between 5 and 10 levels, of flowing action that gradually increases in difficulty.  Animation is smooth with sound effects and music appropriate to the style of the game.  A high score table is kept of your performance along with records of the best time achieved for each level.  This is a game with a high addictive quality that can quickly eats up many leisure hours.

The game is available as Shareware which gives you one hour of playing time before you need to make the decision whether to pay the $19.95 or delete the software from your system.  The game requires Windows 98 or later running on a Pentium II 450MHz processor with 128MB of RAM, 3D graphics card and DirectX8 or higher.

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