Shurican – like Flappy Bird… but with ninjas

Hey guys, welcome back to Withinthegame.com!

 

I’ve said in my last few reviews that apps which have that instant restart thing, where as soon as you die you’re at the beginning ready to go again, are the easiest to get addicted too. And so I found myself sitting in the sun in my back garden testing out today’s game, and suddenly it was two hours later.

Shurican by developer SnoutUp is one of those apps where you die… a lot. But as soon as you do, you’re straight away at the start and you just tap to start your little ninja jumping along his mission again. Its incredibly addictive gameplay as the game is so hard, as you dodge blades, demons, fireballs, and more blades.

Artistically its quite cartoony, something I find a lot in apps which have this kind of catchy gamplay. I like how they don’t try to be the next big fancy looking game, but go for something which looks ok and works, I find this quite refreshing compared to the PC games I play or test which often strive to have the best graphics going.

Gameplay is just a simple tap to jump, and double tap to throw a ninja star. This made this one of the quickest games to pick up I’ve tried in a while, as it took me no time at all to get the hang of the Flappy Bird style movement up and down. It’s a pretty fun game all told! Definitely give it a go if Flappy Bird is your kind of game.

If you want to try it out, you can download it here.

As ever, thanks for reading, let us know what you think of the game if you try it out!

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Tom

Eat Dirt – Highly Upgradeable Hill Climber

Hey guys, welcome back to Withinthegame.com!

 

I’m back from Italy with another Android game for you all, but this one’s a little different to the previous ones that I have reviewed. Eat Dirt, developed by Fail Code Games, is a side scrolling, hill climber, racing game, with a variation of different objectives and customisation options. The player operates their own vehicle, which can be upgraded and modified throughout playing the game, and pilots it over a vast array of mini games and gravity defying race courses. There are pedals on the screen to use, just like in a real vehicle (minus the touchscreen), where one must master the art of sensitive driving to conquer the leaderboards.

This game is either crazy difficult or I’m just really bad at Android games. I found that the default, unaltered vehicle you are provided with is pretty much useless, so I decided to begin by spending my starting points on a big hulk of a 4-by-4. Packing twice as much of a punch, I took to the roads (Or rather, the hills) with this metallic bad-boy and made another attempt at leaderboard domination. To my dismay I still didn’t get very far. The controls are EXTREMELY sensitive, and by sensitive I mean take-your-girlfriends-new-£500-shoes-and-put-them-to-the-torch-sensitive (no offence intended, I know not ALL women are obsessively addicted to shoes like my other half). It takes a great amount of control to operate your car and avoid flipping over, instantly bursting into an impressive bonfire. Not that this is a downside, all I’m saying is be prepared for the fury of hitting a randomly generated hill spike and being mercilessly upturned.

Graphically, Eat Dirt leaves a little to be desired. It’s fine for what it is and doesn’t really affect the gameplay at all, it’s just a little clunky and polygon-y. Aside from this however, if you are the kind of gamer that looks for time consuming games that you can invest a large amount of energy into, this would be a really ideal game to do so with due to the huge amount of upgrade options and game modes. One of the modes features a small truck type vehicle where you must retain the loose box in the back of your trunk whilst driving over mountains and inclines that destroy the laws of physics as we know them. A few of the modes are slightly strange and don’t really seem to work too well, the ‘wheelie’ mini game as an example, but at least we can see that the developer is being inventive and listening to the fans!

If you fancy giving the game a go you can download it for your Android device via Google Play HERE

As ever, thanks for reading, let us know what you think of the game if you try it out!

If you enjoyed our review, subscribe to our site at the top of this page, and follow us at our social media sites below 🙂

George

 

Save the Comet – Orbital Gravity-Defying Fun!

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Save the Comet is an arcade style mobile Android game developed by MogaMecha that involves the safe guidance of our heroic protagonist, the comet, through a wide and open galaxy filled with perils from infinity and beyond. You have to use touch screen technology to avoid planets and other astronomical dangers such as asteroids and meteor showers whilst draining their energy and stopping your gravitational field from pulling them into your own destruction.

Within this game the main goal is to absorb stardust from spatial objects, which can then be spent on various upgrades. The controls are fairly simple wherein you cannot actually directly control the movement of your comet, but you can use the forces of gravity to change direction, as well as use your finger to move around all other objects that fly towards you with malevolent haste. It would be nice to see multi-touch where the player could use both thumbs to control several objects at once, just due to the fact that currently the game only allows you to control one object at a time which means a lot of passing by planets and such are missed. Despite this, the game plays very smoothly and is actually really enjoyable due to the fact that you can actually experience progression in regards to the appearance of your character and the functionality of the game.

Save the Comet allows you to either purchase points to spend on customising your character and choosing game enhancing upgrades or just play and save up. There are also many achievements to complete which means that you don’t just get stuck in the same old system of drag and move onwards, you can actually choose challenges to take on and try and beat each one. Naturally you end up completing some of them just by playing the game, but there are several which give a decent level of difficulty for the hardcore gamers out there. It’s also includes really crisp visuals and art. Obviously it’s not next-gen graphics or super-realism or anything like that, however it has got a really clean cartoony feel to it that helps to keep you engaged without totally going overboard.

This game is extremely easy to get addicted to and I believe that children and adults alike will find enjoyment in trying it out. It’s a great little game to have on your mobile and it’s definitely got a good few hours of play time dedicated to it. If you love sci-fi environments, completing achievements and classic arcade Android games then I’m sure you’ll love Save the Comet!

If you fancy giving this one a go, you can find it for Android devices HERE

As ever, thanks for reading, let us know what you think of the game if you try it out!

If you enjoyed our review, subscribe to our site at the top of this page, and follow us at our social media sites below 🙂

George

Sloth Hop – Some hopping and a bit of slothing!

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Developer John Harper has asked us to give his latest mobile game, Sloth Hop a run through, and so I’ve spent my spare moments whilst travelling and between matches on other games playing Sloth Hop, an iOS and Android game.

“Sloth Hop is about a sloth, who hops.”

Another simple time passing experience, Sloth Hop is about a sloth, who hops ( I’m sure you’re all terribly surprised). The Sloth is making his way up a river, and you have to click on the next island to hop over to it. In this way you progress up the river and depending on what mode you’re in this can either be a time challenge (how far can you get in 30 seconds), distance challenge (how long does it take you to complete a set distance) or survival, where you have to keep your sloth out of the water for as long as possible.

“this game is a bright and cheery little gem”

Graphically quite cute and appealing, this game is a bright and cheery little gem, and the simple interface which just requires you to press the island you wish to land on makes it very accessible as well. It’s enjoyable to play, and I found myself hitting replay every time I failed just to better my survival time. Indeed, the only problem I had with Sloth Hop was its insistence in me linking this game up with the Google play account, to upload my score online. It asked me every single time I completed a level, whether I won or lost, and despite me having said no each time, it continued to do so like a virtual predator.

It’s a fun game though, I’m actually keeping it on my phone for my commute to work at the moment, and I’d recommend checking it out if you’re after something to do for a few minutes.

If you want to try out Sloth Hop, you can find it here.

As ever, thanks for reading, let us know what you think of the game if you try it out!

If you enjoyed our review, subscribe to our site at the top of this page, and follow us at our social media sites below 🙂

Tom