If you’ve been observing the recent trends in media, you’d have noticed more and more instances of the convergence of the various media types. We see web material appearing on television, radio content on the internet, and now, at least as far as theme is concerned, we’re talking about the cinema in a game. Alright, don’t get the wrong idea now, Megaplex Madness isn’t about watching movies — what sort of game would that be anyway? What it’s really about is time-managing your movie theatre to success.

The Bowmont Theatre has seen far better days. As of late, it hasn’t been doing well, and is on the verge of being torn down. Having decided to buy the theatre, you’re responsible for scavenging what is left of this once grand building and returning it to its former glory. No one said it was going to be easy; it’s a formidable task involving plenty of popcorn-popping, pizza-serving, ticket-selling and washroom-ushering.

In order to assist the moviegoers in these activities, you’ll need to constantly drag them around with your mouse to the right places promptly, while keeping an eye on their satisfaction level. Performing this quickly is one way to get you fatter tips. To score higher, you’d also have to pay attention to the colors of your customers’ clothes. If you’re able to consecutively send individuals wearing the same color to say, the popcorn stand for example, you’ll rack up chain bonuses. On top of that, you can also swap two customers between the stations they want to go to for more points.

What particularly adds great excitement to every level is the eventual “hurry” state that comes in near the end. This is when the movie starts playing, and movie goers still left outside start becoming more impatient. At this point in time, you can help serve them faster by rapidly clicking on the contents of their thought bubbles, so as to get them into the cinema before their patience wears too thin. After completing each level, you’re awarded with one of three ranks — “Target”, “Expert”, and “Master”. Attaining at least an “Expert” gives you a token which you can use for the arcade minigames to earn more cash. If you managed to achieve “Master” level, you’ll be granted the opportunity to restore, repaint and beautify a portion of the theatre that was in disrepair.

Megaplex Madness is a well-executed time-management title. Its artwork is pretty decent, although more visual feedback would have helped. There is no clear notification to inform you once a customer’s need arises when you’re going about your busyness — which means you have to constantly keep a sharp eye over each of their thought bubbles which change subtly. Also, the game does get incredibly difficult at the later stages. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because that does help satisfy the veteran time-management players.

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