Run Run Die! Review
PROS
- Interactive levels; precise timing further complicated by the need to also manipulate the stage.
- Easy to pick-up gameplay; solid, simple touch controls and weighty physics.
- Easy mode for casual gamers; assists without being too forgiving.
CONS
- Piercing and repetitive audio tracks; sound effects can also prove to be annoying after a short time.
VERDICT
Presentation issues aside, Run Run Die! is a challenging auto-running platformer that will test your skills.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Designing a winning platformer for a device that is notorious touchy about its control quirks can make life hard for a developer. Run Run Die! by Voltic Games side-steps this problem by joining other auto-running games like The Impossible Game, tasking players with precise timing challenges that quickly reach maddening levels.
The story goes a little something like this: You're a furry little mammal and a meteorite has crash-landed, setting you and your family on fire. To survive and maybe out-live the dinosaurs, you'll need to sprint to the closest body of water nearby.
Each level is packed with platforms, spikes, explosives and a variety of creatures that will end your run if you touch them. Thankfully well timed taps will help you to jump or slide past them, collecting the occasional star along the way as well. In a fun twist, later levels also include interactive blocks that need to be manipulated to finish the stage. These can include ghost-blocks, bridges, explosives and even moving platforms.
As you progress the levels increasingly test your ability to precisely land your jumps, but this isn't just a game for the hardcore gamer - if things start to get out of hand you can switch to 'easy' mode, activating a checkpoint in the middle of the level, but deactivating stars as a penalty for this forgiving feature.
Run Run Die!'s simplicity is its strength and overcoming the 65 currently available stages with all stars in hand is far from an easy accomplishment. With that said, while the pixel-art graphics are cute and easy on the eyes, the sound-effects and looping 'chiptune' tracks leave a lot to be desired and are almost grating in their piercing loudness.
If you fancy yourself a bit of a platforming master, Run Run Die! will test your skills and give you a chance to test your mettle.
Screenshots
FREE
