Amazing Alex Review
PROS
Updated, polished Retina-quality graphics; crisp on all iDevices. Interface switched to a single-touch system; makes positioning pieces easier, especially on the iPhone. Revised level progression; smoothed out to appeal to broader audiences.
CONS
- Currently less of a a re-make of Casey's Contraptions and more of a re-skin.
VERDICT
The been-there-done-that feeling of Amazing Alex is understandable for iPad owners who already have Casey's Contraptions, but for new-comers (including iPhone users) it's another cute, but still addictive physics puzzler to add to your collection.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
If you're not already aware of it, this isn't the first time we've seen Amazing Alex on the App Store. Those who owned an iPad around mid last year should be aware of Casey's Contraptions (CC) by Snappy Touch and Mystery Coconut - its Rube Goldberg inspired physics gameplay wasn't new, but it was seriously addictive. The game was subsequently bought out by Rovio, of Angry Birds fame, touched up, and now we have Amazing Alex for the iPhone and iPad.
In this iteration you play as Alex, an imaginative child that creates and then solves various problems using every-day objects including shelving, balloons, scissors, pipes, wind-up toys and many, many more. It's up to you to use the remaining pieces not added in to the 'machine' to pass the level, hopefully picking up all three stars in the process.
In a slight improvement over the original version, the earlier levels have been smoothed out, simplifying the challenge and teaching players how to use each new gadget before ramping up the challenge. Shamefully, despite the year since its previous release, many of the original levels have been kept in-tact. This isn't a terrible thing by any means, as their complexity was tuned just enough to allow for unique solutions to its many problems, however it does make it much harder to convince those who owned CC to come back for more.
Also left in-tact is the focus on social gaming, with solutions to each puzzle being shared automatically with your friends, while levels created in the editor are placed on an easy to use website and are downloaded with a single tap.
However, what Amazing Alex does have in its favor is the weight of a company like Rovio to not only polish the visuals to an adorably crisp level, but also the promise of more content to come. If any company can guarantee a continuous stream of new levels it's this one - and best of all, it's available on the iPhone too, so more people than ever can join in.
The addition of a smaller iPhone version does have its downsides, notably, placing puzzle pieces can be extremely fiddly, though a switch to a single-touch system has slightly helped.
The final verdict is a fairly clear one - if you can't get enough of Casey's Contraptions and you're itching for more content, jump back on board. For everyone else, it's a Rube Goldberg style physics puzzler of the kind we've seen many times before on the App Store, only with someone like Rovio at the helm you can at least expect continued support.
Screenshots
