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This review was submitted by Shaun McGarry. If you’ve played Monster Dash, or just want to ask Shaun more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Monster Dash (iPhone)
Monster Dash is the latest iPhone game by Australian-based developer Halfbrick Studios, the guys who brought us Fruit Ninja. The game stars Barry Steakfries, a man who runs. Just runs. Like Fruit Ninja, the game focuses on achieving a high score, this time by running as far across the level as you can. But it’s not that simple. Barry is constantly assailed by monsters which he must defend himself from using high-powered weaponry. The game ends when you get hit three times or fall down a hole.
Loved
Simplicity: The game is controlled only by two buttons on the bottom of the screen. One is for jumping and one is for shooting. That’s all you need. Barry is always running so all you have to concentrate on is timing your jumps and defeating the hordes of enemies that try and stop you.
Style: The arcadish style is a good choice for a game that’s as ridiculously exaggerated as this. The game looks as though it came out of an arcade machine from the mid-90s and the weapons you get, including a machine gun-powered jet-pack, help it feel like one too.
Fluent: The entire game runs very smoothly and the action is never dulled down. After about a minute, you’ll fall into a nice flow of timed jumps and shooting zombies, demons, vampires, etc.
Hated
Lack of variety: While the first few playthroughs of this game will seem fresh and intuitive, soon it becomes obvious that all of the enemies are just re-skins of each other and all of the levels are the same, save for a few texture swaps. Overall, the game starts to become a bit monotonous.
Control: While I praised the simple controls above, it must be pointed out that having no movement controls over your character can let you down. Since there’s no way to control before and during a jump, it’s very easy to misjudge your jump and end up overshooting what you were aiming for. This isn’t a game breaker but it is annoying when you accidentally jump into a pit for the tenth time.
Overall, Monster Dash is a simple, fast-paced game that doesn’t disappoint, especially with a price tag of only $1.20. I recommend it if you want a neat little time-waster for your iPhone.
Reviewed by: Shaun McGarry
You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 500 words – yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.
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