Review: Splode - Pop Goes The Splode
by Staff Writer
August 24, 2010
Overview
Your task is to brighten up the world from black and white to a color explosion. You do this by tapping once to initiate a chain reaction, and then having the splodes explode into each other. If the mechanic sounds similar to Sneezies that's because it is the same type of chain reaction game that is an old flash idea anyway.
Features
There are two game modes with the first being challenge where you need to pop a certain number of splodes each level, and it increases in difficulty as you go. The other mode is score attack which gives you only five taps, and you try to get 75% of the given splodes to earn a new tap. There are local high scores only, but updates have been promised by the devs who are behind Doom Resurrection and Dr. Awesome.
The Good
The chain reaction gameplay is simple fun anyone can enjoy with just a tap, and watch what happens. You follow the flow of splodes, and try to tap so the movement of the splodes continues into groups of the other splodes. Splodes act a little differently when they're exploded into, they launch off quite a bit rather than exploding right where they're touched by the blast radius.
The game provides great visuals that really sparkle because of the sharp contrast. You begin with everything in grey scale, and then as you pop splodes the entire screen is lit up in color. The explosion animation of each pop is great as well that is another stark contrast with the cute splodes. Each pop also corresponds to different tunes, and it creates a whole tune with the consecutive popping.
The Bad
The game is relatively simplistic in that you only tap once, and the game does the rest. You can use strategy to determine the best spot or tap randomly and have somewhat similar results. The game is repetitive as well from level to level as you're doing the same thing each level, and the background color and sound effects are repetitive as well.
Maybe the game feels even more repetitive because it's just like Sneezies. If you've played Sneezies before you've experienced every aspect of Splode. If you haven't I would suggest picking up Sneezies instead as it's even cuter, and has a deluxe online high score and achievement system.
The Verdict
Splode is a well made game with great design to offer a nice chain reaction atmosphere. The gameplay isn't groundbreaking, and far from it as it's very similar to Sneezies. The game gets repetitive quickly, and could really benefit with an online component.
For $0.99 the game is worth considering for such a small price and being universal. I suggest picking up Sneezies if you don't own it or launching it again if you already do.
