QuickAdvice: Meganoid Brings Back Challenging Retro Platforming To Your iPhone
Meganoid ($0.99) by OrangePixel is a retro-styled platforming game for your iPhone, complete with chiptunes and sound effects.
The iPhone makes a great platform for platforming games. The touch screen works great for simple controls, and that's what most platforming games consist of. But remember those awesome 8-bit graphics that you grew up on (maybe)? That's what made platformers so great. And now there is a game that brings all of this together in a single package for your iPhone. It's Meganoid for OrangePixel.
Meganoid starts out with your character being told that he must make his way through the outer regions and get into the city. You must then go through a series of mazes, each with obstacles that will get in your way of reaching the city.
There are two ways to control your character. The first method is by the on-screen buttons. There are two arrow buttons that will move your character left or right. The button on the right will make your character jump. The other method is to use tilt controls to move the character and then tapping the screen to jump.
There is a pause button for both methods that will allow you to change which control method you want to use. Along with that, there are options to turn the sound or music on or off, and quit to go back to the main menu.
During your journey, bstacles include spikes, moving platforms, enemies that will kill you if you touch them, and more. You must avoid all of them by having the right timing.
While you go through the mazes, there is a time limit in which the level can be completed. If you complete the level within the time limit, you will get a Time Star, which will award you more points to your score.
Along your journey, diamonds will fall. Collecting these will earn you more points. Collecting all the diamonds in a level will get you a star, just like the Time Star, and you get more points.
The goal of each level is to reach the portal at the end. While each level is not very big, the time limit makes the game frantically fast-paced. It's also extremely hard. You only get three lives in the beginning, so it's very hard to keep them all.
The game comes with 70 levels for you to go through, and two game modes: Hero and Sarge. Think of it as Normal and Hard. Of course, you'll have to unlock the Sarge level first, which will be one tough thing to do.
If you die and lose all your lives, you get taken back to the main screen. However, you can pick up on the last level you were on if you decide to try again, so you don't need to agonize over starting over from the beginning.
There is OpenFeint integration with achievements. Since this game is pretty hard, getting those achievements is going to be a good challenge for the serious platform gamers out there.
Despite OpenFeint still being decent, I would like to see Game Center integration with the game. Ever since Apple has introduced it, I have not used OpenFeint as much. Plus, Game Center is integrated with your Apple ID, which is easier than having to set up a new OpenFeint account, especially if you've never used the service before. Hopefully, OrangePixel can implement Apple's Game Center into future versions.
If you're looking for a serious platforming challenge and love the nostalgic 8-bit look and chiptunes and sounds, then definitely pick up this game. It's a bargain at a dollar for retro gaming fans. Also try not to damage your phone in frustration.
