Emeraldia
is a 1993 puzzle video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in March 2009, and was also re-released in April 2024 as part of the Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
Gameplay
The game features three modes of play: "Adventure", "Normal", and "Versus". In all three modes, both players must line up blocks of a particular color - and when three blocks have been lined up, they will crack. Once a fourth block of that same color lands on the three cracked ones, they will all shatter. As for Adventure Mode, the object is to get the trapped sea creatures down to the bottom of the screen and rescue them. After each ocean has been cleared, the player receives an item which can be activated by pushing the stick up and pressing the button, but each item can only be used once, and only in the ocean that follows the one it was received at the end of. At the end of the "Mystic Ocean", the player must defeat a sea demon named Jamir, by cracking the block he is possessing with his face; he will then go on to possess a different block, and once the blocks he possesses have been cracked six times, he will be defeated. However, the game is not over at this point, as there is still one more stage that has to be cleared, where the player must get seven pink dolphins and one blue one down to the bottom of the screen.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Emeraldia as the eighth most popular table arcade game of August 1993.