Orange Pixel has done a lot to change the face of retro platform gaming on the iOS with the past releases of Meganoid and more recently, Stardash. Their latest release, INC, is yet another addition to the list of amazingly well made games developed by this small company, and the perfect mix of platforming and run’n’gun gameplay will keep you saturated in action from beginning to end.
Like the other two mentioned O.P. titles, INC gives players 3 stars to earn in each of the 40 levels, spread across 4 worlds. The tight controls haven’t changed, and neither have the great physics or phenomenal level designs. The graphics are also done in a great Orange Pixel retro way, this time giving it a look that sets it apart from Meganoid and Stardash. The levels are done in a silhouette styling, with each backdrop being a different color in each of the worlds, and having great outlines of factory type objects within them. There are 3 “boosters” to activate in each level, done simply by walking over them, but when you activate them, a nice little animation showing that the booster has been turned on goes off, sending a sort of pulse through the air, and shooting your gun will bring about a “ratatat” above the gun, running out of ammo will cause a “click click” to show up. Lifting your finger then tapping on the shoot button again will automatically reload your gun. In short, INC is graphically great.
Now, as for the 3 stars per level. These are earned by hitting all 3 of the boosters within the givin time limit, making it through the level with a life left over, and killing every enemy within the level. Towards the beginning of the game, there’s not too much of a challenge, but as INC is an Orange Pixel title, the challenge does go up quite a bit before the end of the game, though not as much as Meganoid or Stardash, the challenge is still there, especially if you want to try and grab all 120 stars available in the game. There are Boss fights at the end of each world do mix it up a bit, and help add to the challenge, but it should be said that INC has been made with the more casual gamer in mind, so actually making it through all 40 of the levels shouldn’t be too hard for veteran players of Meganoid or SD.
There have been a couple of bugs reported, like the sound of the gun firing sounding like it’s coming through broken speakers, the character not being able to move the first time the game is started up, and bullets not firing, while the sound is still playing, and the “click, click” is still showing when the gun needs to reload. For the no bullets, and no movement bugs, restarting the game seems to fix those issues, but all 3 are being looked at and dealt with by Orange Pixel. Though for the price of $1.99, and being Universal, INC is a great gaming experience, especially for fans of OP’s past releases, but if you’re new to the Orange Pixel world, or not very familiar with challenging platformers, INC is most likely the game you should pick up first. The addition of the run’n’gun gameplay to the traditional platforming is great, and something that the AppStore has been missing for far too long. TANK, and clones of Contra really just haven’t done it for most fans of the genre, but INC takes the R’n’G gameplay and runs with it extremely well, and is a game that all fans of old-school gaming should snag, as well as casual gamers who are just looking for something visually exciting, as well as tons of fun, with a bit of challenge thrown in.
There have been a couple of bugs reported, like the sound of the gun firing sounding like it’s coming through broken speakers, the character not being able to move the first time the game is started up, and bullets not firing, while the sound is still playing, and the “click, click” is still showing when the gun needs to reload. For the no bullets, and no movement bugs, restarting the game seems to fix those issues, but all 3 are being looked at and dealt with by Orange Pixel. Though for the price of $1.99, and being Universal, INC is a great gaming experience, especially for fans of OP’s past releases, but if you’re new to the Orange Pixel world, or not very familiar with challenging platformers, INC is most likely the game you should pick up first. The addition of the run’n’gun gameplay to the traditional platforming is great, and something that the AppStore has been missing for far too long. TANK, and clones of Contra really just haven’t done it for most fans of the genre, but INC takes the R’n’G gameplay and runs with it extremely well, and is a game that all fans of old-school gaming should snag, as well as casual gamers who are just looking for something visually exciting, as well as tons of fun, with a bit of challenge thrown in.
INC gets a score of 4 out of 5.
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