Lines 98 Classic

Genre: Unlimited Pattern Match-5 Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Retro Collection: 3 in 1, along with Minesweeper Classic and Mr. Stackman.)

Lines 98 Classic, released on Nintendo Switch in 2026, is a version of the classic game Color Lines, originally released on PC in 1992 with this release clearly seeking to imitate the look and feel of the version of the game released on the Windows platform in 1995. Yeah, not sure where they’re getting “98” from…

For those who never played earlier versions of the game, the idea is that you’re presented with a grid containing multicolored balls, and each “turn” in the game, you can move one ball to any other space in the board as long as it can get there via any path without passing through another ball. If you manage to line up five or more balls of the same color, those balls clear and you can take another turn immediately. On the other hand, if you don’t make a match, three new balls appear on the board in locations indicated to you on the prior turn. Players aim to clear as many balls as possible before the board becomes too crowded and the game is lost.

It’s a simple enough premise and easy enough to wrap your head around, and there’s some fun to be had in trying to find the most effective moves while racing against the inevitable cluttering of the board. However, I have issues with the game design here too – the random propagation of colors means that you could be stuck for quite a long time with four balls in a line ready to be cleared without a fifth to finish the line. Also, there are too few significant choices to make early in the game and you’re too blocked off from choices late in the game, making the middle portion of the game the only point you have some real agency to make strategic choices.

In this specific release, I feel the gamepad controls are too clunky, making players deliberately move each space in a way that feels frustrating and tedious. One would hope that touchscreen controls would fix this in handheld mode, but unfortunately that option isn’t present here – you only have gamepad controls to work with.

The presentation doesn’t have much to talk about here either, with this release clearly seeking to imitate the simple look of the Windows release of the game, without any animations or any other sort of flair here. The one artistic addition you’ll find here is new synthesized background music, which is actually kinda’ catchy.

In the end, Lines 98 Classic is an okay but mediocre version of an okay but mediocre Puzzle game. Players who have nostalgia for the classic Windows release of the game may find this Nintendo Switch version to be a fun trip down memory lane, but I think most players have better options for Puzzle games on Nintendo Switch.

tl;dr – Lines 98 Classic is a version of the classic PC Match-5 Unlimited Pattern Puzzle game Color Lines, with this version clearly looking to imitate the look of the Windows release of the game. This is a decent but mediocre port of a decent but mediocre Puzzle game, and while players who are nostalgic for the Windows release of the game may find this charming, I think most players have better options when it comes to Puzzle games on Nintendo Switch.

Grade: C-

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