Gorilla Gondola Review

By Dave Flodine, on February 15, 2012

Publisher: Electric Pixel Factory Ltd
Genre: Action
Released: 2 Feb, 2012
Size: 98.4 MB
Price: $0.99

PROS

Very bombastic and immersive soundtrack for each world (and the menu screen).
Slow introduction of new gameplay obstacles and elements each phase.

CONS

Sometimes hard to differentiate between an obstacle and the background.
Too easy to put your gondola in harm's way due to a troublesome down swipe mechanic.

VERDICT

An inventive game with a great presentation. The play experience is a little more frustrating than it needs to however, and might turn some players off.

Full Review
App Store Info

If the SNES Classic Donkey Kong Country has taught us anything, it's that an ape will go to any length for bananas. Even travel by hazardous ski lift apparently. In Gorilla Gondola you are enabling this Gorilla's banana habit as you travel through exotic locations, trying your hardest not to have his gondola smash on the rocks. How would he travel without it?

The first thing you'll notice upon loading up Gorilla Gondola is the catchy beat pumping out over the menu screen. The second thing upon loading up the first level are the lush visuals. In presentation, this game gets high marks indeed. The landscapes just spring off the screen allowing you to breathe them in while the soundtrack makes its presence felt without seeming overbearing. The only misstep is that sometimes the obstacles don't differentiate themselves from the background enough and you can find your gondola pressed up against an oppressive cliff-face as the screen rolls in.

The controls don't exactly help in this matter. Oh it's nothing terrible, just what we'd call another misstep. The gondola moves left and right via tilting. Swiping up makes the gorilla jump, allowing bananas and items to be collected that are above you. It's not enough to have the gorilla avoid obstacles though, the gondola needs to do the same, and to move under many of the obstacles you need to jump up, then swipe down to shove the gondola and the line underneath. The problem is that even after playing a few levels, the urge to just swipe down to move the gondola down still fought the knowledge of having to jump first, and especially in situations where you have to quickly jump and slam to get through unscathed, this just leads to frustration.

Luckily death can be cheated by quickly tapping the obstacle to remove it from play. How's that for a special power, the ability to move mountains. So while Gorilla Gondola has amazing production values and a host of fun items and levels, the core mechanics just fell short of enjoyment for us here at AppSpy. Others may find their results different so if this looks like some fun to you, don't be afraid to embrace your banana lust and give it a go.

Screenshots