Publisher: FDG Mobile
Price: $2.99 (£1.99)
Description: A Unique Puzzle Game
Fullscreen Support |
Mouse Support |
File Size |
Launch Date |
Required Specifications |
Yes |
All (keyboard control) |
34.7 MB——- |
15th December
|
None |
Rating
Pros: Great controller support, exceptional voice acting, well designed levels.
Cons: Some levels may be a little short,
Review
Once upon a time there was a kingdom of peaceful bugs. Yes, you heard me. Bugs. This bug kingdom was named Kriblonia and it was kept alive by radiant sparkling diamonds. One day the Four Spiders of the Apocalypse raided the aforementioned “bug kingdom” and stole all of the diamonds, spreading them across four territories of terror thus leaving Kriblonia in darkness. The brave hero Krible (also a bug) is summoned by the queen (another bug) and ordered to bring back as many diamonds as he can. You of course play the part of Krible the bug hero and all around diamond grabber.
Beyond YNTH is the sequel to the popular ipod game YNTH with improved graphics and gameplay. For those who have not played the original, Beyond YNTH is a side scrolling platformer with cunning physics-based puzzles built in. While it is fairly easy to pass through each level the real challenge comes from attempting to collect all of the diamonds. 2 diamonds are strewn across each level, usually in plain sight. Obtaining these diamonds ranges from super easy to downright diabolical. Kibble can rotate boxes, stack blocks, operate doors and jump on springboards to try to get his hands (ummm feet?) on those sparkling diamonds. On many levels the environment is hostile: Krible will freeze if he is left unprotected in the cold and will dry up if he is exposed to the desert heat for too long. There are also lava pits to be reckoned with in the volcanic regions. You will die many times playing through Beyond YNTH, but thanks to a handy rewind button you can undo your mistakes and try another approach to getting past obstacles. This is a really great addition that I would love to see in more platformers. The game is semi-linear, meaning that completing a level may unlock 1 or more linked levels on the main game map, allowing you to skip some of the harder levels to come back to as you become more experienced at playing the game, and there are a lot of levels… somewhere around 80 of them. If you get totally stuck on a level there is an option in the pause menu to view a YouTube video of the solution.
Controls are very tight, jumping just feels right and I never once found myself stuck on a piece of scenery. The keyboard controls work well and fortunately can be customized. There is also built in support for standard usb gamepads and the XBox 360 controller (you do still need the 360 controller driver). It is nice to see decent controller support, especially in an iPad port.
Graphics are really very good, It’s obvious a lot of love went into designing the world of YNTH. Snowflakes fall on snowy levels. Hazy waves of heat punctuated by the occasional tumbleweed adorn the deserts. Parallax scrolling gives a feeling of depth to the forests. Krible himself is well animated, his face a determined grimace when pushing blocks, or a smug smile as he jumps across a pool of boiling lava. Small touches, but nice ones that show how much thought the artists put into the game. Although there are no resolution settings that I can find, graphics were perfectly crisp in fullscreen mode: either the game runs at native resolution or it scales very well.
From the scuttling of the bug-hero’s feet across wooden containers to the whoosh of a falling meteorite to the satisfying click a sliding box makes as it snuggles into place YNTH is a world alive with vibrant, clear sounds. The voice actor who reads the between-level stories is easily as good as some of the best audio-book talent I have heard. In-game music is of similarly high quality and the main menu song is guaranteed to give you laugh. This is probably the only platform game I have ever played that I would seriously recommend playing with a headset or at least some decent speakers.
The App Store is chock full of platformers, puzzle games and iPad ports vying for your gaming dollar. Original gameplay, tight level design, stellar sound and just plain old-fashioned craftsmanship makes Beyond YNTH among the very best the app store has to offer.
