Looking back to my days as a young boy, I fondly remember the toys that kept me entertained; a small red Porsche that I'd 'drive' around the living room for hours on end, those simple wooden jigsaws that had little pegs on each piece, and the large cubes with different coloured shapes cut out (and corresponding shapes to put through said holes). Good times indeed, and yet I find myself returning many years later to essentially the same concept that latter toy introduced, albeit through the medium of the Xbox Live Arcade. Yes, putting different shaped blocks through matching holes is back, and it's still as oddly satisfying and enjoyable as it ever was!

The premise of Roogoo is, as with most puzzle games, very simple. Blocks fall from the sky and it's your job to rotate the floating discs below to ensure that each block falls through its corresponding hole. Initially there are only three shapes, but this soon increases while other factors and requirements are also thrown into the mix. Despite the cute characters, simple music and basic controls, Roogoo is anything but child's play.

You're eased into the game gently, but levels soon become a test of your reactions as you frantically try to rotate the discs quickly enough to keep up with the falling blocks. The left and right bumpers control the rotation of the discs and while it's clear enough to see which one you're controlling and which hole the current block is going to fall through, things can get confusing in the heat of the action, resulting in you sending square blocks hurtling towards circular holes in moments of pressure. Make too many mistakes like this and it's game over.

As well as being given more shapes to contend with, the small aliens that feature as the enemies in the story mode get introduced as obstacles to successfully slotting the blocks through the holes. Here it's a case of speeding up the blocks as they fall and knocking the enemies out of the way. It's not too much of a challenge, although when you've got a split second to do this before another disc needs rotating for another block, well, it's harder than it sounds.

Additionally, butterflies periodically fly onto one of the discs and lift up all of the fallen blocks back up through the level. This essentially forces you to rotate the discs in reverse in order to see the blocks back up to the top. These new elements certainly keep the game from getting stale and you rarely get time to become comfortable with one new feature before another one is added. With only forty-five levels this definitely isn't a bad thing, and the variety and difficulty curve is well judged. The early levels take only a few seconds to complete, while later ones clock in at several minutes long.

The multiplayer options are basic at best, and the game is clearly designed as a single player experience, but the option of playing with a friend either locally or online is a nice one to have. Some challenging achievements also help to add to the lifespan after seeing out the story mode, if you're into that sort of thing.

There's actually very little wrong with Roogoo; it takes the falling blocks formula in a slightly different direction and does so in a way that's enjoyable and challenging in equal measure. At times piles of blocks can build up and prevent you from successfully rotating a disc in time, which usually isn't your fault but rather a consequence of the game's design, although this only happens rarely. The catchy music and the design of the game world and characters are certainly appealing, and the gameplay is simple enough to pick up quickly yet challenging to master. There have been some complaints about the game's length, but the concept is one that's basic enough to lend itself well as a small chunk of excellent game design without being stretched too far into a longer product where it wouldn't work so well.

Roogoo won't tax your brain with its puzzles, but it's certainly satisfying to play and offers a good, reaction-based challenge. It's a great little original game, the likes of which are very much welcome on Xbox Live Arcade.

Reviewed by Andy Keagle for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).