Review: Spy Bot Chronicles

Overview

Spy Bot Chronicles is a spin-off from the outstanding Toy Bot Diaries triology. When we last saw our hero, Toy Bot had just saved King Bot from War Bot after traveling through space. Everything wrapped up nicely, and the Bots were on their way home, when the bottom side of the ship is blasted open, and Toy Bot is taken by Thief Bot. Thief Bot has taken Toy Bot as a trophy, and hidden him away, so now it’s up to Spy Bot to travel across four zones and rescue Toy Bot. Spy Bot brings brand new skills to the party including the ability to shoot lasers, and manipulate machines around him.

Features

There are four zones to make your way through with 7 levels in each world. There is the same amount of play time in Spy Bot as in the entire Toy Bot trilogy. Also along your way there are hidden levels to unlock. Each zone has a different theme with the woodlands, swamps, volcanic mountains, and bosses checkerboard lair. Spy Bot changes up the control scheme from the tilting of toy bot. Now there are virtual buttons for left/right movement and jump plus the ability to tap anywhere on screen to fire. In each level your goal isn’t only to get through it, but also to collect all of the gears, and find the collectibles, 35 in total. As you progress Spy Bot picks up new abilities, providing the ability to shoot lasers, hack items, and double jump. There are no lives, instead in each level there is a three step health bar. Even if you lose all three you just go back to the last checkpoint.

The Good

The gameplay is superb, and will keep you entertained for hours. The basic platforming experience is one of the best on the iPhone providing the traditional controls rather than using the accelerometer. Toy Bot had a unique control system that worked, so why change it? Well Spy Bot’s controls work even better allowing for more precise movement, and interaction with the environment. As you move about the levels all of the gears to collect provide challenge within the level, and reason to slow down rather than rush through the level. To simply beat each level is pretty tough, and then trying to collect all of the gears and find the collectibles is extremely tough. Spy Bot provides unique boss stages where you have to defeats waves of enemies in certain areas to advance to the next waves of enemies. Then when you’re finished with that there is a final object to hack into by matching of shapes spinning on a dial. The visuals are beautiful, and designed so well. Every zone has a theme that is intertwined into everything from the wonderfully deluxe moving backgrounds to the varying platforms. The animations are great too from spy bot’s coat flapping in the wind to the laser blasts on enemies or electric field surrounding enemies. There is a different soundtrack for each of the four zones that are mellow, and pleasant to listen to. The sound effects are well done, and not overbearing. Also Spy Bot doesn’t cry out when he falls like the annoying scream of Toy Bot. Overall Spy Bot is slicker exemplified by his thumbs up at the end of a level. You will spend plenty of time with this game the first time through, and it’s a game where you will want to make it to the end. After beating the entire game you can go back and try to unlock all the hidden levels as well as all 35 collectibles, and beat every level 100% by collecting all of the gears. The save system works well, and picks up at your last checkpoint which are quite frequent though the levels.

The Bad

Not too much to dislike with this title. One thing is that the game seems to lack the feeling of being “stuck” like in Toy Bot. There is less to figure out, and more just forcing your way through the level blasting various enemies, and jumping between the platforms. As you progress though, there are various hidden collectibles and levels that you won’t find by simply going through the level. You have to actually look for them, and go off the main path. Also to unlock anything you need a certain number of gears so it’s a good idea to collect as many as you can on your way.

The Verdict

Spy Bot Chronicles is outstandingly constructed and super fun to play. This is a true platforming experience on the iPhone, and one of the best to date. It even surpasses the outstanding Toy Bot trilogy in visuals, sounds, and gameplay time. The game is challenging, and provides multiple collectibles to keep you playing. Spy Bot Chronicles is a must buy. [gallery link="file" columns="4"]

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