Banana Kong [FDG Entertainment] - $0.99

FDG has been on our ‘list of publishers to pay attention to’ list for quite some time. Actually, since 2010 with the release of Across Age, one of the best Zelda-esque games available on the iOS. Now with their latest release, Banana Kong, they have done something incredibly special; Hit the #1 spot on the iPad Paid Apps list in iTunes! Now, it’s no secret that this is one of the most coveted achievements for an iOS developer, so the fact that Banana Kong has done it is, in itself, amazing, but behind everything that comes with the #1 spot on iTunes is a very well developed, entertaining and challenging game that has a pretty decent potential to be worth your money as well as the time you’ll wind up sinking into the game.

With Banana Kong being an Endless Runner, I know that there are plenty of you out there who are just sick to death of the genre, and really don’t want to give this one a chance. In fact, I was one of those people for a while. But I gradually got back into them around the time Jetpack Joyride and Ski Safari came out, and now, some of my favorite games being released these days are endless runner type games because, like just about every other genre out there, endless runners are evolving again, adding to the typical auto-runner gameplay. With that being said, Banana Kong doesn’t add anything new to the genre, which is strange considering it’s positioning on the iTunes charts, but I’m sure it’s the game’s simplicity that’s drawn so many gamers in. 

You’ll control Kong as he speeds through the jungle collecting bananas and avoiding various hazards. With each run, you’ll have the opportunity to complete 3 objectives which, in turn, reward you with bananas that you can spend in the game’s power-up and utilities shops. The controls are simple enough; tap to jump, hold while in the air to glide, swipe down to drop down from a platform or bounce harder on treetops and flowers, and swipe right to activate your boost, which is available after collecting 11 bananas. This boost ability lets you smash through rocks and other hazards and also allows you to enter the upper treetop area if you boost while swinging on a vine, or go down into the jungle caves if you boost into an entrance. If you fall into the lava in the cave system, or don’t bounce off of a treetop, you’ll be sent back to the main jungle area, however, if you run into an object like a rock or other hazard, it will be game over. 

In the power-up shop you’ll be able to purchase upgrades for the various animals that you’ll encounter like the giraffe (who can save you while you’re in the treetops), boar (who can destroy environmental hazards) and the toucan (which carries you over water, collecting bananas until you run into an object), magnets, special rainbow bananas worth 30 bananas and your glide ability. In the utilities shop you can purchase one time use items like extra lives, boosters, full dash bars and a water bounce which saves you once from falling into the water. These upgrades and utilities are fairly high priced, especially considering when you first start up the game, chances are you’ll be earning around 100 bananas per run and most upgrades start at 1,000 bananas while items range from 300 for a full boost bar to 2,500 for an extra life. Luckily, completing objectives will earn you around 100 bananas for completing them, and with the possibility of completing 3 per run, they will help you out quite a bit. 

If that’s still not enough bananas for your taste there are, of course, IAPs. Free bananas if you want to sign up for and go through the hassle of downloading more apps through TapJoy are available, and then 2,500 bananas for $0.99, 7,500 for $1.99, 15,000 for $2.99 and 50,000 for $7.99 are all available for purchase. This might bother quite a few gamers, but considering it’s an endless runner, and the whole point of the genre is to play over and over and over again while trying to beat your own, as well as others, high scores, it might not bother other players. If the upgrade/item prices were a bit lower, it might really ease the sense of the whole ‘pay to move up the leaderboard’ feeling that a lot of gamers will most likely have. 

Aside from the expensive items, Banana Kong is your typical endless runner that will appeal to both casual and hardcore fans of the genre. However, it is very well polished, and does have a certain amount of charm that will keep most players coming back time and time again. As you can imagine with the game hitting the #1 spot on the iTunes charts, there are quite a few GameCenter players (191,812 at the time of writing this review), so you can bet that there’s some pretty stiff competition going on in the score-chasing department. On top of the leaderboards for distance and number of bananas collected, there’s also 33 hard to snag achievements that will keep players busy for quite some time. 

Priced at $0.99 and being a Universal app, Banana Kong might not add anything new to the runner genre, but it could be a nice addition to any iOS gamers collection. So long as you don’t mind putting in quite a bit of time so you can max out all of the upgrades and then work on purchasing the one time use items, Banana Kong has the potential to give you hours and hours of entertaining, well presented, charming gameplay. 

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Polara [Hope This Works Games] - $0.99

As time moves on, the Runner genre is getting more and more interesting. Considering most running/auto-running platformer games out there only have one or two button controls, the amount of complexity that can be found within the genre is very impressive. Hope This Works Game’s newest title, Polara, definitely falls into that impressive category. Since we saw the trailer for this Ikaruga inspired runner, we’ve been incredibly psyched about it’s release, and now that it’s out, and we’ve got our hands on it, we haven’t been let down. In fact, it’s even more impressive than we thought it would be. 

Polara’s story follows Agent Lara, a tester for a new type of suit that can pass through the city’s defense system. While testing this suit, Lara is contacted by the outside rebels, learning some potentially disturbing news, and decides to help them in their cause. Now, I should let you all know; I’m a huge sucker for cyberpunk/near future/down with the establishment type stuff. Larry Niven, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, I eat their books up like an addict, always wanting more. So, I know that has a pretty big influence on how much I’m enjoying the story and setting for Polara. But even aside from that, it’s a fantastically challenging and well designed game offering up some great gameplay and multiple modes to try and master.

 In fact, there’s 7. 7 different gameplay modes - The Campaign/Story and 6 more endless modes; Random Normal, Random Hard, Random Insane, Gravity Wave, Super Speed and Switch, each offering different mechanics to mess around with and try and conquer, not to mention the GameCenter leaderboards for each of the 6 endless modes that you can try and climb. 50 levels are included in the Story Mode, with story scenes and bosses every 10 stages. As you make your way through each level, you’ll need to change the color of Lara’s suit between Blue and Red, matching the lasers, projectiles and other objects that are thrown at you throughout the game. Polara also keeps track of how many deaths you’ve had in each stage, with GameCenter achievements for making it through 10, 25, and all levels flawlessly. Controls are handled by tapping on the left side of the screen to change between red and blue colors, and the right side to jump, which can also be switched in the options menu. 

Once you complete a level, you’re able to go back and collect the letters POLARA and a Special Item. Doing this will require some quick thinking and fast reflexes, as you’ll need to match the color of the letters in order to collect them, almost always switching colors multiple times while in the air to do so, and almost always making a jump that would otherwise result in certain death to collect the special item. With the mix of rotating multi-colored rings, enemies that fire various projectiles, objects that increase your speed or send you into a super jump and many more hazards and nifty objects to weave and switch colors through, it can get incredibly challenging and difficult, though never frustrating. The controls are incredibly responsive, and every time you die, you’ll be cursing yourself for not being quick enough, never at the game. 

As you complete the Story Mode stages and go back to collect the POLARA letters and special items, you’ll start to unlock the various other endless modes. Random Normal is already unlocked once you start the game for the first time, but Gravity Wave unlocks after you collect 8 special items, Random Hard unlocks after collecting 10 POLARA’s and reaching 2,000 meters in Random Normal and Random Insane unlocking with 40 POLARA’s and 2,000 meters in Random Hard. The last two modes will unlock once you collect between 20 and 30 POLARA and 16 to 24 special items. Each extra mode focuses on certain objects and hazards from the Story Mode, with Random Normal comprised of all of the regular hazards and mechanics from the Story, Hard is full of all of the harder to get through sections, and Insane is one long string of the hardest sections in Story Mode. Gravity Wave is one section of gravity shifting parts after another. Having your suit change to blue switches gravity, while red makes gravity normal. Super Speed contains all of the sped up sections and Switch, well, you guessed it, requires a WHOLE LOT of switching colors. 

The graphics and animations are fantastic. The cut scenes are made up of beautifully hand painted artwork, helping to set the scene and atmosphere perfectly for the gameplay and story. The background cityscapes look amazing as you’re running past them and the dark color scheme helps to add to the dark feeling of the game while also helping to make the blue and red lasers stand out incredibly well. Animations for Lara, the lasers, enemies and bosses are also great, with multiple animations for jumping along with very smooth animations for slowing down and sliding across surfaces. 

GameCenter includes 32 achievements, most of which will provide a great challenge for 100% completionists, and the 6 leaderboards definitely help to drive the replay value for the Endless Modes. There is no board for the Campaign, but trying to get through each of the 50 levels without dying will take most players multiple playthroughs, not to mention the POLARA and Special items that you'll be able to collect on your second time through each level. In short, there's endless replay value, and score-chasing opportunities within a great amount of content. 

There are ads in-game, but only on the loading screens, and only for Hope This Works other title, Kunundrum. You do not have to exit the ads to progress, and they do not pop up anywhere else in the game. The addition of the Kunundrum ad has helped to keep Polara priced at $0.99, and considering it contains absolutely no IAPs and is Universal, it definitely stands out within the genre. With all of the content and crazy amount of replay value, not to mention the polish within the graphics, environment and story, but also the smoothness of gameplay, even on lower end devices, this $0.99 launching price is a fantastic deal. If you’re a fan of runners, or auto-running platformers, and yes, there is plenty of platforming that can be found in Polara, this is definitely a game you need to pick up. Even if you aren’t a fan of, or use to be a fan of runners, Polara has the potential to make you a fan, or bring you back to the genre. The color changing mechanic and way that it’s used (not feeling like just a gimmick in any sense) adds a ton to the otherwise over saturated genre. 

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Rayman Jungle Run [Ubisoft + Pasta Games] - $2.99

Platformers on the iOS have become insanely popular. Back when I first got my 2nd Gen Touch, finding good platformers was crazy hard, and there were massive groups of people who would hop on just about every platformer that hit the AppStore. Since around the time that League Of Evil hit the store, the genre has really opened up, and now, there’s multiple folders full of platform titles on both my iPod and iPad. Now, at the beginning of September, when the Announcement Trailer for Rayman Jungle Run hit YouTube, I was thinking that it would still be months before we saw the title hit the AppStore, but low and behold, the new Rayman game went live this Wednesday, and as we expected, it’s an auto-running platformer in the same vein as Bitless, ChocoRun, Sunshine, Don’t Run With A Plasma Sword, Wind-Up Knight and others. However, Rayman Jungle Run’s jumping mechanic is expanded on as you progress through the game, but also has a fixed jump height, which, for many gamers, is a big no-no. 

Now, even with the fixed jumping height, Rayman Jungle Run is a blast to play. The levels are designed around the fixed jump height, which does make the game a bit less challenging. Not to say that Jungle Run doesn’t contain any challenges. Granted, getting through all 40 stages in the game won’t take long, actually, between about one or two hours, but once you go back and try and get all of the gems in each level, you’ll be spending a lot more time with it. 

Each of the 4 worlds is split up by abilities; Jump, Fly, Wall Run and Punch, each ability is tacked on to the one-button touch mechanic except for the Punch, which gets it’s own button once you reach the last world. With each stage containing around 40-60 gems for you to collect, along with 3 large gems that give you a group of 20 gems counted towards your final gem count. Getting all of the gems awards you a perfect, and unlocks the level’s tooth. Once you unlock 5 teeth in a world, you’ll have access to the Livid Dead stage, which does not contain any gems, but are also the only levels that have GameCenter leaderboards, and are based solely on time. 

This does seem like a complete missed opportunity, as having leaderboards for each world would have added a lot more replay value to the game which, with it’s small amount of content, would have been a very good idea. With each level being able to be completed in less than a minute, Jungle Run seems like it could use all the extra replay value it could get. Though, even without total world boards, there is quite a bit of replayability in Jungle Run. 

Along with getting perfect gem runs in each level, and the replay value that brings, you’re able to unlock iPhone wallpapers by collecting gems. On top of that, just getting through the Livid Dead levels will require multiple plays, and once you do make it through, bettering your time on the leaderboard adds quite a bit of gameplay. 

Jungle Run is powered by the same engine that Ubisoft used for Rayman Origins, which, luckily enough, runs fantastically on the iOS. The gameplay is incredibly smooth, and the graphics are top notch, and beautifully done. The background music is great as well, but, with the game only containing 3 tracks, it can get old fairly quickly. There is an option to shut off music and keep the sound effects if you like, which is a big plus, especially here. 

I was a little turned off at first with the whole non-traditional approach to the platform genre, but Pasta Games (developers of Pix’n’Love Rush) did a fantastic job with it. Auto-running platformer games like this seem specifically catered to the iOS touch screen interface, and are a perfect fit for the platform, and even though I know there are many gamers out there who will disagree, and hate that Jungle Run is an auto-runner, I’m very glad that they decided to take this route. 

Priced at $2.99 and being Universal, with the GameCenter support including 4 boards and 17 achievements, as well as 3 separate game saves, it’s a great buy for fans of the genre. There is iCloud support, but unfortunately, I (and many others) have not been able to get our saved data to transfer between devices, and have even lost games because of the touchy iCloud integration. This is incredibly frustrating, especially when loosing your saved game when you’re half way through the last world, and hopefully this can be fixed very soon in an update, as that, and the lack of world leaderboards are really the only things holding this game back from a higher rating.

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Blood Roofs [Gamesmold] - $2.99

Endless Runners really haven’t been my thing over the last couple years. There are a few that I’ve really enjoyed; Box Cat, Gravity Guy, Cuddle Bears and I’m really liking One Epic Knight at the moment, but really, with the insane amount of runners out there, they all started to look and feel the same after a while. However, there has been one developer that I’ve really enjoyed just about every title they’ve released; Gamesmold. Their last couple of endless titles, Panic Springs and Spooky Hoofs are both still on my iPod, and get played fairly often. Well, back in January, Gamesmold announced a new runner, this time titled Blood Roofs. At first, it looked like an extension of Spooky Hoofs, in a way, but done in 3D. 

Influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, Blood Roofs has you jumping across rooftops of a city that’s being overrun by evil. Jake, the main character, carries Catherine, hoping to save both of their lives while she pumps massive amounts of ammo into the creatures. There is more to the story, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, as it’s a nice little surprise at the end of the Story Mode. 

Now, Blood Roofs might seem like an Endless Runner, and, essentially, it is, but there’s two different modes; the original Story Mode, and an unlockable Survival Mode. Once you reach the end of the Story Mode, the game continues, taking you into Survival Mode. There are three major differences between the two modes; 1:) Survival Mode has no ending. 2:) There are no bosses in Survival Mode. 3:) There are no Extra Lives or Warps in Survival Mode, even if you have purchased them in the shop. 

The controls are easy to use, and semi-Temple Run like. You’ll tilt to move left and right, and have buttons for jumping and shooting, with more buttons appearing on the screen as you pick up grenades and boosters. You’re able to switch the jump and shoot buttons, moving the jump button to the right instead of the left, but other than that, there is no option for virtual control movement. That might sound like a downer, and at first, I thought that, because of the controls, I was not going to enjoy the game at all. But after about my 3rd game, the controls felt great, even on my iPad. I generally hate tilt controls when playing on my iPad, but with Blood Roofs, I actually prefer to play on my iPad instead of my iPod because the controls feel so great. However, Gamesmold is working with players to figure out some sort of virtual control set-up that would best fit the game and be comfortable to implement in a future update, so  if you’re completely against the control set-up as is, you might either want to wait to see if something can be figured out, or maybe purchase the game to help support the developer and join in on the feedback on Touch Arcade and Facebook. 

The graphics for Blood Roofs are outstanding. There are a couple of things I’d like to see changed, like the ‘plastic’ look of the characters, and maybe a shadow added to the main character, but aside from that, for being a runner, Blood Roofs is very surprisingly immersive, with great creature models, and some fantastic use of fog and rain to add to the atmosphere that’s already pretty intense just given the look of the city’s buildings. The bosses also look amazing and the colors used for everything from the buildings to the fog and creatures is just perfect. Fans of Lovecraft should definitely enjoy the look of everything throughout the game, even down to the split wood and trains.

Another highlight is the sound. The music, and especially the sound effects, add immensely to the immersion as well as enjoyment of the game. The screams from monsters and sounds of Catherine’s gun firing away are fantastic. Gamesmold has definitely done a great job with the whole look and feel of Blood Roofs. 

GameCenter integration and a shop where you can purchase upgrades, items, characters and modes completes the game perfectly, adding endless replay value to the game. GameCenter has 4 leaderboards, 2 for High Scores, one in Survival, the other for Story Mode, and two Distance boards, also one for each mode. It would be great if another board was added for the Clock Mode, which you can purchase in the shop, and lets you play the game while holding a clock, not able to attack any creatures, but the lack of it doesn’t take away from the replay value at all. There are also 22 achievements as well, also adding to the game’s replay value and drive to keep coming back. Along with GC, in the shop, you’re able to purchase 2 other characters, Jane, who carries a flamethrower, and Shaneela, who is a mermaid and can electrocute the creatures. As already mentioned, there’s also a clock you can unlock which is basically another gameplay mode. Along with the characters and clock, there’s also permanent upgrades, giving you extra lives/respawns, warps which carry you forward a pretty decent amount if you can manage to jump into them, and wings which give you double, tripple and quadruple jump abilities. You can also purchase items which you’ll normally come across in-game like boosts and grenades, and then, lastly, you can unlock Survival Mode in the shop as well. 

Priced at $2.99, and being Universal with a crazy amount of content and replay value, Blood Roofs is a great deal, even if you’re not a fan of Endless Runners. It has more of an adventure feeling to it, not only because of the 3D gameplay, but also because of the story. On top of that, the developer from Gamesmold is hard at work gathering feedback from players in order to make Blood Roofs even better. Even with the occasional camera issues, which sometimes make seeing monsters in front of you, and buildings beneath you hard to see, as well as the plastic looking characters and semi-floaty physics, all of which are being brought up to Gamesmold, taking in everything else, it’s easily one of my top 3 favorite runners, and is definitely worth checking out. 

**NOTE:: After posting this review, the developer contacted me and let me know that there actually is a boss in Survival Mode if you can get that far. I'm sorry. I had no clue, as I, obviously, haven't gotten that far. But there aren't multiple bosses in Survival Mode. =oP

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Slash or Die! [PNJ] - $0.99

PNJ has come out with quite a few really decent games over the last couple years. The first game I managed to grab from their studio was Terra - Eternal Chaos, an action RPG. Since then, Real Fishing 3D, Zombie Run, Block Knight! and plenty more have all graced my iDevice. But their latest title, Slash or Die, definitely has that spark that makes it stand out. And even though it’s pretty grindy, and has IAP with expensive items, it’s still a game that I’m enjoying quite a bit. 

Slash or Die has you controlling Blade, a super powered being who’s the only hope for Earth once Machines, Aliens, Ghosts and Demons start invading. There is only one gameplay mode, but you’re given an option for Hardcore Mode once you complete the game, which definitely does add to the replay value as well as the difficulty, and with 24 challenging missions, there’s enough content to keep you busy for a while.

Controls are simple; a left/right slider bar and jump + attack buttons. Your character basically stays in one spot on the screen the whole game, and the slider bar controls which way he’s facing, as well as how fast he goes. Forward increases your speed gradually over time, while facing backwards slows him down. As you make your way through each level, enemies will come at you from both sides, and you’ll often be faced with the decision to either attack an enemy in front of you, but risk a bad attack, causing the enemy to fly backwards instead of die, or maybe even miss the enemy, in order to be able to turn around and hit an enemy coming at you from behind, or turn around, and make sure you get the enemy behind you, and risk not being able to turn back around quick enough to hit the enemy in front of you. Mob control winds up being a core aspect of the gameplay. 

The graphics are top notch, looking fantastic on retina display, and the 4 environments that you’ll guide Blade through each have their own look, as well as enemies and objects. The character design is a huge plus in Slash or Die!, with 4 different enemy races, and a total of 22 separate enemies, each having their own unique way of moving and attacking. There are also various objects which Blade will need to either dodge by jumping, or slash through as he’s running through each of the levels. These various objects generally come at him quicker than the enemies, so keeping an eye out for them is a big priority. If you don’t, chances are these are what will cause most deaths. The animations are also very well done, with the running, attacking, and jumping as well as the explosions and each of the enemies attack animations all look fantastic, and definitely add to the look and the feel of the game. 

With Slash or Die! priced at $0.99, and being Universal, it’s a great title for fans of runners and hack-n-slash games. With GameCenter support including 2 separate boards, one for your Stylish Points, and another for your Max Combo, along with 25 achievements to try and grab driving the replay value alongside Hardcore Mode. Slash or Die! is easily my favorite PNJ title next to Terra - Eternal Chaos, and if this is any indication of the direction PNJ is going in in the future, it’s definitely looking bright. 

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Starbounder [Studio Radko] - $1.99

Runners certainly have their fair share of fans, and it’s not really surprising. The gameplay is simple, addictive, easy to learn hard to master, and best of all, fun. Recently, these games have been changing and expanding, and usually, for the better. Studio Radko’s Starbounder is a prime example of this. A level based, space ship ‘runner’ where you glide along platforms in outer space collecting orbs and jumping from platform to platform. 

Diving right in, you’re given a little bit of a story. Apparently, you’ve been in hyper sleep for the last 5,000+ years, and were only supposed to be awoke when you came into contact with something or someone intelligent. The systems woke you when coming across a giant platform. It’s up to you to explore and catalogue everything you can. What better way to do that than to race across the platforms at top-speed?

Starbounder only has one gameplay mode, but fortunately, there’s 6 separate environments, each with 10 levels. All 60 of the levels have 3 orbs which you can try and collect, acting as a ranking system. But without GameCenter leaderboards and achievements, the drive to go back and collect the ones you’ve missed is kind of lost. There is one racer which you can unlock after you get 180 orbs, and has special abilities, but the rest of the ships all have the same stats, same acceleration, top speed, and handling, so it's primarily cosmetic. There are patterns and different colored boosters which you can select to change the appearance as well, but it really would have been great to have different stats for each vehicle. 

The controls work well, having a break button in the lower left corner, and a jump button in the lower right, and tilt controls to move left and right. Each of the tracks are a straight shot, but they’re wide, and you will need to do some fancy maneuvering to make it through, but the controls are good enough to get you through, and the edges of platforms are forgiving enough so you won’t have any unfair crashes or descents into the blackness of space. 

The graphics and animations are decent. There is a jumping animation which is nice, and the explosion animation is pretty cool, and both definitely add to the graphical look and feel of it all, and the backgrounds are beautiful. The music and sound effects are a huge plus as well, with pounding beats and great FX mixing in very well with the music, it adds a level of adrenaline to the game. 

The level designs in the beginning are very simplistic, but as you progress throughout the game, they get more and more complex, and really become a highlight of the game. It’s very clear that lots of time, effort and testing has gone into the creation of the levels, and it has a huge impact on the gameplay, especially if you’re going to try and get all of the orbs. They are placed in areas which will require definite skill in order to collect them all, which does help to make up for the lack of GameCenter. There’s a great feeling of accomplishment after pulling off some sick jumps and quick turns to collect the 3 orbs, especially later on in the game. 

There are two versions of Starbounder, SD and HD. The SD version is normally priced at $1.99, but is currently on sale for $0.99, and is made for the iPhone 4 and 4th Generation iPod Touch. The HD build is also originally priced at $1.99, but is on sale for $0.99 as well, and is made for the iPhone 4S and iPads 2 and 3. Both versions are Universal, so you should be careful as to which version you pick up. If you’re a fan of runners, especially level based runners, Starbounder is a great title to pick up. If you’re looking for a level based star racer, with twists and turns, power-ups and other racers, this probably won’t hit that nerve. Hopefully GameCenter boards can be added in the future. Having that extra drive to get better times, or collect all the orbs would be a great addition, and would keep gamers coming back to the game time and time again, even after completing the game. But as it is now, it’s still definitely worth checking out. 

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Project 83113 [NCSoft+Fabrication Games] - $0.99

Endless runners are a dime a dozen in the AppStore. However, runners that incorporate more platforming than just mindless jumping are a pretty rare breed. Mirrors Edge, ChocoRun, Mega Run, 1-Bit Ninja… these are titles that take the running genre to the next level, adding in quite a bit of plat forming. So much so that it’s hard to decide whether to place them in Platformer or Runner folders on my iDevice. The most recent addition to this sort of sub-genre of platform running is Fabrication Game’s Project 83113 (Belle), published by NCSoft, and it could very well be the best of the best when it comes to these types of games on the iOS.

Back in April, when I first heard of, then named, Project Belle, I was ecstatic. The games graphics and presentation looked outstanding. The only thing I was really worried about, like almost all games that involve platforming, was the controls. It was the beginning of a short wait, unlike tons of other games that are basically forgotten between being announced and their release, it only took 2 months for Fabrication Games to get Project 81331 out onto the AppStore, and thankfully, the developers nailed the swiping gesture controls PERFECTLY. 

Like all of my favorite platformers, Project 83113 has a decent story pushing the gameplay along. You’re never caught wondering what you’re doing and why, or trying to guess where you are or who put you there, which, in my book, is a huge plus when it comes to platformers, and mainly because so many of them don’t include any information about these things what-so-ever.

Belle is part of a slave race, controlled and used by machines. Born out of the eyes of the machines, she was raised and trained to be The One who could free their kind from slavery. She is… Project 83113 (hehe). As you progress through the game, blasting your way to the hub of the machine’s haven, you’ll come across various weapons and robots which will help you defeat some of the more powerful machines. 

You’re able to collect upgrade coins throughout the game, but you can also buy them in the shop, which is accessible through both the level selection screen and the pause menu. Here, you can buy upgrade coins and bombs, as well as upgrade your weapons and take a look at all of the story fragments that you’ll be collecting throughout the game. There are IAPs, but you’re never driven towards purchasing them, and are really just there if you’d like to help support the developers, and completely max out your weapons. 

Right now, Project 81331 contains 33 levels; 27 regular levels spread across 3 worlds, with each world having one boss level, and one stealth level. There is a 4th world, and even though I haven’t gotten that far yet, it’s not included in the GameCenter scores, so I’m assuming that it’s coming in a future update. Either that, or it’s a very small world consisting of the center of the machine’s haven (here’s hoping). Each of the 27 standard levels has 3 different badges you can earn; one for finding the hidden object within the level, one for defeating all of the enemies in the level and one for completing the level without taking any damage. This last badge is what really adds to the replay value, and ups the difficulty quite a bit. Even by level 1-4, you’ll be going nuts trying to complete the stage without getting hit. 

The controls in Project 83113 are fairly simple. Swipe right to move right, swipe left to move left, swipe up to jump, and swipe down to slide. As you make your way through the game, more moves will be unlocked, like dashing in the air, double jumping, and gliding for short distances. Belle fires her weapon automatically whenever she’s in range of an enemy, and you’re also able to fire a special shot by tapping on an enemy. However, this drains a little bit of your energy, so you’ll have to watch how many times you use it. There’s also an icon of a bomb in the lower right corner, which clears the screen of all enemies and projectiles. 

Graphics-wise, Fabrication Games has done an outstanding job making a game centered around machines and corridors incredibly vibrant. Each of the character and machine sprites are fantastically done with the environments matching the high quality set by them. Animations are detailed and, well, just plain awesome. The explosions look great, and everything down to Belle crouching looks amazing. The game is also super smooth, especially on the iPad, but I didn’t encounter any slow-down or frame-rate issues while playing on my 4th generation iPod Touch either, which was a huge shock. 

With the price of Project 83113 set at $0.99, being Universal, including GameCenter leader boards for the total score of each separate world, and having 20 incredibly difficult to unlock achievements added on top of them, combined with the mind-blowing production values and amazing game-play, this is one game you do not want to miss out on. Project 81331 will definitely wind up on my top 10 games of the year list, and is one title that I’ll be recommending to all of my co-workers, and gifting to everyone in my family. It’s that good. With the insane amount of replay value, I’ll be hooked on Project 83113 for quite some time. But it’s safe to say that Fabrication Games has not only raised the bar for games in the platform runner genre, but completely blown everything else out of the water. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in the future!

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