Spin Master Games - Star Wars Death Star Perplexus

Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbgUbc5Ir-o______________________Regarding the puzzle:______________________The Perplexus puzzles have introduced a new era of puzzling. Fans of mazes and the old Mouse Trap board game will certainly be taken away by this puzzle. Simple to play, difficult to master couldn't be more accurate, as one has to guide a small metal ball along a narrow plastic track towards the finish line, only to encounter over a hundred obstacles along the way. It is a lesson in patience, and will certainly improve your hand-eye coordination. This is a 5-star puzzle for it's ingenuity, precision and originality. Though, I would give 6 stars if possible.______________________Regarding the product:______________________This thing is epic. If you are even remotely a fan of Star Wars and/or puzzles, you will need to add this to your collection. It is highly addicting, and the fact that it lights up and makes sounds is icing on the cake. The sphere itself is shaped just like the Death Star, but it tends to make it even more difficult to solve because it warps the plastic, making it difficult to see. The sphere is much heavier and larger than other Perplexus puzzles, and has a nice thickness to the plastic. These features were likely implemented because of the electronics and delicate features within the puzzle. The tracks are completely themed to the Death Star, and you can even see little rivets, grooves, stairs and rails that look accurate to the original model. You will see familiar objects, such as the X-Wing, Darth Vader, the exhaust system and even the platform on which Luke and Vader had their duel. There is an authentic-looking base to rest the puzzle on, and the puzzle's special effects can be turned on or off via the small switch on the bottom. It does go to sleep after some time if unused, however. I have played with this for at least an hour every day since I purchased it a month ago and the battery has died yet. This product is a 5-star product, though, I would give it 6 stars if possible. It is a work of art, as well a utilitarian puzzle that will bring you hours of frustration, and satisfaction.______________________Regarding the shipping:______________________I received this on exactly the day that I expected. 5-star shipping.______________________Conclusion:______________________This is a 5-star product. I was completely blown away by the quality of this puzzle. It is so beautiful, you may have trouble taking it out of the packaging, because it looks like a collectors item. It is not an easy puzzle, however. You may find its difficulty to be on par with the Perplexus Epic due to the narrow passage ways and sharp turns. But this is an absolute must-have for anyone remotely interested in Star Wars or puzzles, for that matter.Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbgUbc5Ir-o

My wife bought this for me for Christmas. I have loved it so far and spent many hours trying to get to the finish. The maze itself is challenging to the point that I do have to take brakes when I keep falling off at the same spot. I have not solved it yet, but progressed through about 2/3 of the maze. If you turn the switch on, there are different colored LED lights and resemble light sabers, and as you go through the maze, and the different turns, the sounds react to your movements as if you were in an X-Wing fighting with a TIE fighter! In fact, 1 part of the maze requires you to get the ball in an X-Wing and move it around to the other side of the maze. As far as the quality of the maze, it seems to be very well made. I expect the maze to hold up with the use it will get around my house. The only part that might worry me a little is the X-Wing, which is a moving part in the control of the user, so there is potential for it to break or get messed up, but only if someone abuses it. So far, I haven't run into any issues with the moving part. My son loves to watch me play it with the lights and sounds turned on because it's 'just like Star Wars'.

Purchased as a gift for my son on his 7th birthday. He loves the special effects! He's very good at puzzles and these sorts of things and has played with other toys of this type at his after school program, though we don't have any others at home. This is a bit challenging for him, and he became slightly frustrated, but has kept at it over several days, so I think it is at a good level for him, not easy, by any means, but achievable. It has not been "solved" yet, but he has gotten pretty close. It was awkward wrapped because it made noises when it was moved! From the "mom perspective," the noises are audible by not obnoxious. He's had fire trucks and the like from birthdays past that mysteriously ran out of battery power forever and then "disappeared", and this is not that bad. He did get busted with it after lights out (It makes a lot of noise and flashes colored lights. How did we know?) so it must be pretty good. He's usually a rule follower.

I've been collecting these over the last few weeks. After I got the Epic I was so impressed with it that I ended up buying them all and this is the last one to arrive. I had it earlier but it arrived broken so I had to return it and I was hoping that lightning wouldn't strike twice and I'm happy to say it did not. The new one I received was completely intact and fully functional.On to the gameplay itself, I LOVE Star Wars and this is a really cool idea and it makes perfect sense. Unfortunately I can't rate it a full five stars because, as others have noted, sometimes it's VERY difficult to see what is going on inside the ball because of the Death Star design on the outside impeding your view. Since this version is the only mainstream Perplexus that is battery powered they should have included an optional internal light that you can switch on and off to make seeing your ball easier. It might be a project I take up myself to see if I can get it functional but that would have solved many of the problems that this ball faces. That aside though this is a worthy addition I've gotten about 25% of the way through to get a feel for how it plays compared to the others and it's a classic, well-thought out maze with some very interesting new ideas. If you like the other ones you'll more than likely be thrilled with this one as well.