Review: GloBall
by Staff Writer
July 16, 2009
Overview
GloBall is similar to Block Breaking games, but instead of using a paddle to hit the ball, you simply use the accelerometer to tilt it around. It seems to be a combination of labyrinth and block breaker intertwined with enemies.
GloBall is really a double meaning in this game. In the literal sense you control a glowing ball. This game isn’t nearly the same without being “Global.” No other game is so much based on global high scores, and the location of those high scores.
While playing through the varying levels there are upgrades to collect and enemies to avoid. Levels also have coins and most levels even have secret passage ways for more coins.
The controls are easy as can be, all you do is tilt the iPhone to move the ball. Any tap on the screen pauses the game, and that's it. It's one of the most intuitive User Interfaces in the App Store.
Features
There are 43 levels that obviously become more difficult as you progress. You can compete for a high score on each level as well as the overall score. You begin with level 1 and unlock each subsequent level, but can play any level you’ve beaten at any time.
There are tons of upgrades to pick up along the way. There is color multipliers, bomb, ice, through ball, lightning, and nuclear. Each upgrade pops up randomly throughout the level, and once activated lasts for a certain amount of time.
As far as enemies there are spiky balls that you need to avoid or you will lose a life. Then there are small and long ink enemies that you can squish when you have an upgrade.
In each level you begin with three lives. There are coins scattered throughout levels, and every 25 you collect is an extra life. There are secret passage ways to find as well, that you uncover by just rolling over the location.
The score is made up of three elements: Base score, time bonus, and ball bonus. You're base score is composed of all the points you get from breaking the blocks, squishing enemies, and collecting coins. Any extra time you have left, shown in the meter in the bottom right, plus any extra lives are bonus points.
The Good
The Graphics are outstanding in every respect. Even the level select is eye candy with a coverflow level interface. In the top half is a fully rendered draggable 3D globe showing your location as well as all the other players. Every few levels has a different background surrounding the play area that are great to see.
The actual animations in the game are as good as can be. The ball is obviously glowing, and has a trail behind it the entire time. When you make contact with the blocks they jiggle, and explode with a paint blotch in the color of the block. The upgrade animations are visually stunning as well with color explosions, lightning flowing between the blocks, or all of the blocks freezing.
The Global High Scores are one of the main features in this game, and need to run smoothly. The good news is that they do run as smooth as could be, and Robot Super brain just updated their servers.
As soon as you finish a level your rank in the world pops up almost instantaneously. As soon as you see your rank you’ll want to jump right back in and try to better your score on that level. Also the high scores integrate your location to perfection creating location aware high scores telling you how you compare to your surrounding area.
The Sounds aren’t revolutionary, but get the job done. No background music is provided, but there are plenty of sound effects to make up for that. Each bounce off of a block has a great bing, and all of the upgrades have their own unique sound.
The replayability is outstanding, as I guarantee you won’t play any level only once. The levels are quick so you find yourself saying just once more, over and over again. Each time you play a level you pick up little things to use your next time through to try to better your score. It’s very addictive, and with 43 different levels there is plenty of re-dos.
The Gameplay itself without high scores or amazing visuals is really fun and quite addicting. No level is super frustrating or just unbeatable they just provide enough of a challenge to be super fun. Playing Labyrinth is always a good time, but throw in blocks to break, enemies to avoid or squish plus numerous upgrades, and it’s an amazing time.
