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| Tiny Wings review for iPhone and iPod Touch |
The App Store’s Top 25 list is a fickle beast. One moment it can highlight a great game like Cut the Rope or World of Goo. Then the next a rip-off game like Doodle Jump will be at the top (expect a full Doodle-bashing post soon). So forgive me if this review is late, I was just skeptical. I mean really, it does cost 99 cents. And no one wants to waste space on their iPod Touch or iPhone for a crap game. Would Tiny Wings be an arcade game with legs, or just a throwaway app?
Luckily for my prudent iTunes credit, Tiny Wings is a great game that fully deserves to be sitting in the Top 25.
The game’s story is confined to the App’s description. There’s a fat bird. Make the fat bird fly. The gameplay is as simple as the story. The only thing you do is hold down when you want the bird to dive-bomb, and let go to send the bird into a flapping flurry. Using that technique, you gain momentum in the hill field word, travel to new islands, and outrace time itself.First playing it, the game seems too simple. I thought there’s was no way I’d spend more than five minutes at a time playing it. And then, something clicked. It’s that impossible to describe feel the best arcade game will make you feel that makes Tiny Wings great. The feeling that you can always do better, and when you fail, it’s no one’s fault but your own.
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If you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, here’s a more concrete list of things that makes Tiny Wings a must download. The game promises “procedural graphics,” which means that ideally every day the game’s islands all look different than they did yesterday. Not only does the game actually deliver on the promise, procedural graphics also creates a sense of discovery every day you play. Each time the bird is traveling to an island I haven’t landed on, I feel a twinge of anticipation for what type it’ll land on.
Next is the game’s leveling system, which combines achievements, Call of Duty perks, and plain video game objectives. At the beginning of the game you’re given a plain brown nest with a 10x multiplier. To get better nests with better multiplies; you need to complete three objectives. These can range from simple like reaching a certain island, to crazy like playing a whole round with your iPod touch or iPhone turned upside down. Because the multiplier constantly goes up, your score is constantly improving.
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| The next Prestige ladder |
Objectives probably contribute most to the addictive nature. Right now, I’m stuck on the objective for being in fever mode (when you continue to slide down hills perfectly) for 34 seconds. Chasing this objective has made the game turn from a cute carefree app to a brutal old-school arcade game. Mess up once, and I got to build that timer all over again.
Tiny Wings starts with a simple concept, but adds enough layers so as you’ll be able to play this for five minutes or an hour and still want to go again. From the soothing graphics and music to the brutal objectives, this game goes beyond a fun app into something any gamer will love. Now get going, it does cost only 99 cents.
8.5/10
Addicting gameplay with layers, unique graphics
Difficulty spikes in objectives, hit detection can seem off (rarely)
