MacCraic

This is the first of I hope many postings on MacCraic & I decided to start with a review of the iPhone/iTouch game “Shaky Summit” from IUGO Mobile Entertainment who are also the creators of another fave game of mine called “Toybot Diaries”. I have to say since the App Store has opened I have become absolutely fascinated by the breadth of useful applications ( although there is some below-par ones also- c’mon Apple where is the QA ? ) being offered which is giving a tremendous opportunity to savvy developers. I’ll admit also to a certain amount of appidiction with the amount of apps I’ve checked so far either free or paid.

This particular app “Shaky Summit” is basically what you would describe as a “ race you,first one to the top ” game. At the title screen you are presented with the summit of a mountain with a flag on top with the word “play “ & this is the first place where you see how IUMO understand the touchscreen feature of the iPhone/iTouch & how it should be implemented in a game. There are a number of functions such as 2 player, options, scores & credits which are arranged in a circular rotating motion below the “ play “ flag which you can access by dragging or flicking your finger across the screen which will cause the functions to rotate. When you tap on the “ play “ flag you are first asked to choose from one of three available cartoonish characters ( there is one hidden character I believe that is unlockable, think it’s a Yeti ) each with different attributes. You pick the character using the yellow left or right arrows buttons & select with the green tick button that you feel is most suitable. This will then present you with a select difficulty pop-up screen with the levels of  Tenderfoot-Easy, Experienced-Medium & Master-Hard, each difficulty level has ten stages. When you pick the Tenderfoot level you are then whisked via an excellent animation sequence to an island which contains the ten peaks which you must climb to the top of first, this screen is also very well animated & suits the game’s cartoonish visuals. You start initially at the “Landon’s Glean” level where again you press the green tick button to enter the level,which will provide a pop-up box asking you if you want the in-game tutorial activated for this level. Would suggest doing this as it allows you to get to grips with the controls & the gameplay mechanics quickly & easily.

You are presented with a split screen with your chosen character on the left & the (in this case ) CPU controlled character on the right,with the characters trading on-screen banter prior to the race starting.

When the race starts the characters run automatically towards the summit of the mountain with you having control over a stamina bar on the left of the screen which looks something like a thermometer which you can tap to give your character a burst of speed but this can run out & will need to recharge during some part of race. You can also create an earthquake  by tapping & holding on the screen which creates a rumbling sound effect and screen shake which can be used to dislodge objects for the opposing climber which become obstacles to slow him/her down. However, this is where the strategy comes in as the earthquakes you create can also create obstacles that can slow you down so the timing of this feature must be chosen well. When you finish first on top of that peak you unlock the next one on that particular island.

Overall I like this game a lot, the cartoon graphics are excellent, the use of the touchscreen & accelerometer is well implemented & the difficulty level is pitched just right.

You can also use the music on your iTouch/iPhone to replace the in-game music which you can select in “ options” ( must find out how  Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid“ sounds in game )

I have no hesitation in recommending this game which is available in the App Store now.

That’s 2 out of 2 for IUGO ( www.iugome.com ) , can’t wait to see how the next game turns out.

Graphics:   9   excellent cartoon graphics & animation

Sound:       7   like the sound effects but the background music is passable.

Gameplay: 9   fair difficulty level & innovative straightforward gameplay with good use of the iPhone/iTouch features

Value:        9   only € 3.99 from the App Store-value for money in my book

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