Overview
Bubble Town was a hit on MySpace and Facebook, so it was only a matter of time before it made it to the iPhone. Now, I’ve never played it on either of those sites, because I don’t even know what a Facebook is. Okay, that’s a lie - I just don’t bother playing cheap games on those websites. I’d rather spend my time playing the PS3. Anyway, I’m talking about Bubble Town here. It’s basically Bubble Buster, or any like game, but instead of plain, colored bubbles, these have ugly faces. And some are sleepy! The object of the game is to clear all of the bubbles from the screen. In order to do that, you have to connect three or more like bubbles.
Features
There are two ways to play this game, the easy way or the frustratingly stupid way. The first is the “old fashioned” way: Touch your screen to move your cannon into position. The second: Use the motion sensing control setup, and hope that your shot will somehow go where you hope it goes. Tilt your phone from side to side to move your cannon. Then try to keep it in the same position when you go to fire your bubble. It needs some work.
Breakdown
The Good:
Lots of people love this game. You might even be one of them. Millions of people play it on Facebook and Myspace. You might even be one of them. Since so many people like it, it’s safe to assume that many more who haven’t played it will like it as well. You might be one of them. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them.
I played this game hoping to get addicted and have a new favorite game on my iPhone. And I did enjoy myself while playing it at times. But that enjoyment just didn’t sustain. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m just in a bad place mentally right now where I can’t enjoy a game that involves shooting ugly bubble things at other ugly bubble things to make them pop and fall from their stationary position in the sky. Yes, it could be me. But I’m going to say it’s not.
The Bad:
The motion sensing controls. Bad, bad, bad. It’s jerky and unpredictable. See above. I’d recommend sticking with the touch screen controls. You’ll feel more confident about your shots, that’s for sure.
The ricochet shot is a pain in the ass. I’m still as uncertain with it now as I was when I first started. There are little indicators as to where the shot will go when it ricochets- but it seems like there’s no consistency. And sometimes the bubbles will stick on the edges of some bubbles, and other times it’ll soar right on past. I don’t know. I just don’t know. I did like the Sure Shot bonus. I wish it lasted longer.
It took me a little while to figure out how to turn the sound off when I would go to resume my game. All I had to do was tap the screen on the resume screen. Who would have guessed?
Verdict
Eh.
Bubble Town is like most of the other “puzzle” games out there: addictive and repetitive. And I’ve been finding on most of these reviews that the repetitiveness often overrides any addiction I may be forming. And this game was no exception to that. If I understand correctly, this game is free on Facebook and MySpace. So, if you’re a casual gamer, save your money and play it there. But if you feel like this is a game that you have to play while you’re away from a computer/Internet, then don’t let me stop you. I just don’t think it’s $3.99* worth of fun. That’s all I’m saying.
*It's currently on sale for $1.99. That's a little more reasonable but I still wouldn't pay for this game.
