Air Penguin Review
PROS
- Tight controls; movement accelerates smoothly based on how far you tilt.
- Easy to pick up and play.
- Clean, cute graphical style.
- Collected fish can purchase temporary aids to complete levels.
CONS
- Minimal variety in gameplay despite the addition of new hazards over time.
- Little replay incentive; collected fish help to complete levels - pointless once the game is completed.
VERDICT
Air Penguin lacks the same vital spark of other recent bird-themed titles, but bouncing your way through each of the game's challenges still makes for a fun challenge that scales to your skill level.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Imagine you're a penguin collecting food for your friend's and family when, 'WHAMO!', a wild Global Warming appears and uses Sunny Day to melt your home in to tiny chunks of ice. Annoying as that may be, everyone you know is now stranded on the quickly forming islands of ice and it's up to you in Air Penguin by GAMEVIL to rescue them.
The ultimate aim of each chapter may be to rescue an individual penguin, however on each stage your goal is simply to survive your trip to each flag. Your basic mode of transport consists of constantly bouncing, with players adjusting the direction and speed of the penguin by tilting their iDevices. Reality is thrown out the window for something far more fun as you can maneuver freely in the air, making seemingly impossible tasks such as collecting fish (which are scattered around each level) hovering over water a simply matter of grabbing it at the zenith of your jump and maneuvering back before you land. Collected fish can be spent on temporary aids that apply to the level you're on, lowering their difficulty in favor of progressing smoothly. The fun doesn't stop there either as players are treated to two other modes of transport, either by sliding along long icy floes (ala 'Antarctic Adventure') or by hitching a ride on a friendly turtle.
Obviously there's something about the whole bird to cuteness ratio that sends casual audiences in to a frothing overdrive and this is certainly exploited in Air Penguin, though the gameplay really does shine through thanks to its combination of simple controls and gameplay that's tempered by available power-ups. Players can purchase more fish via In-App Purchasing, but it's certainly not necessary to complete the game. The variety in the gameplay does quickly reach a plateau, though the inclusion of an endless 'survival' mode helps to break things up.
Air Penguin is cute, fun and most importantly, approachable, making it a perfect storm of elements ripe for exploiting the current trend of popular games on the App Store. The tight controls and scaling challenge make this a great game for gamers of all walks and is an easy game to recommend for those after a fun distraction.
Screenshots
$0.99
