How High In The Sky Can Bouncy Go?
Bouncy! ($0.99) by Marcel Blanco is a game with a simple concept: jump on a trampoline. There really aren’t many games like this, which are simply about bouncing and nothing more, at least, until now.
I’m sure that many of us have wanted to jump around and perform cool tricks on a trampoline, right? The problem with this is the fact that not many people have trampolines to begin with, and they can be pretty expensive. Plus, there’s always the dangers involved — what happens if you miss a landing? Or somehow end up off the mat and hit the hard part? You’ll probably meet some expensive medical bills, and it’s just not recommended. But now you can have the fun of trampoline jumping, without the physical pain!
Bouncy features an adorable little bunny, named Bouncy, who loves to jump around on a trampoline. He’s living your dream, but hey, it’s close enough. I am quite drawn in with the paper-like texture of the game’s visuals, which are pretty appealing on the eyes. Animations are incredibly smooth as well, though Bouncy has rag doll-like movement, especially if he fails to land properly on the trampoline. The game features some whimsical music and cute sound effects, that is, until you have Bouncy die a gruesome death, which is when you will hear gooey blood noises.
You start with a simple tutorial of how the game works, which is quite easy. You get two options for controls: touch or slide. I personally prefer touch. With touch, the screen is divided into three different sections: left, middle, and right. Press, hold, and release in the middle section to make Bouncy gain momentum and height as he jumps. Repeat the process in the left or right sections to make him do a flip, but make sure you make him land properly after a trick, otherwise he will have a bloody demise (and a lot of them too).
I tried the slide controls, and they’re a bit more difficult than the touch. To make Bouncy gain speed, swipe down. To make him move forward or backward in a direction, swipe horizontally. I found it to not be as easy as the touch controls, and it will definitely take a bit of getting used to. Personally, I will just stick with touch, as it makes the game playable with one hand.
There is also wind in the game, and this affects Bouncy’s ability to do tricks. You are able to see the wind speed and direction, so make sure to use it to your advantage. These are constantly changing as well, so keep an eye on it constantly.
You can perform combos by doing tricks in succession without pausing. When a combo is started, the points you earn for each subsequent trick will be more, since you get a multiplier. It’s important to try and get these going, as it can be the fastest way to rack up points.
In addition to having fun just endlessly jumping, the game will give you different objectives to meet. You will be asked to do some things, such as “Perform 12 tricks in one game,” or “Get a combo run of 3000,” or “Do a triple backflip.” There are plenty of missions to do, which will definitely keep things fresh as you try to meet them all.
Your score is dependent on the tricks you do, combos, and completing goals. You will earn some stars as you play, which can be used to purchase different skin colors for Bouncy. These will provide various rotation bonuses, making it easier to flip and spin on the trampoline.
Your trampoline level can also be increased as you acquire achievements and complete goals. The appearance will change, and each new trampoline will give you boosts in feel, performance, and even multiplier amounts.
There is Game Center support for leaderboards (best score and best combo run) and quite a handful of achievements. If you are skilled enough, you can unlock some new game modes, which have boosts for more speed, height, control, and bonus points.
This is a beautiful looking game with charming sounds, and I love the simple-yet-hard-to-master gameplay. It will definitely keep you entertained in short bursts, and the challenge is quite welcome, to me at least.
The only complaint I have is that for some people, this may get boring after a while. That’s because you can’t really do any more tricks that aren’t just rotating in midair. If the developer could add some new styles of tricks in the future, then that would be great. Currently, it’s a bit repetitive for each game you play, but that’s the thing with simple games, right?
Still, we don’t have many games out there that just involve trampoline jumping, so if you have always wanted to experience the fun of trampolines without the expense or real life danger, then give Bouncy a try. It’s availalable for $0.99 in the App Store for your iPhone and iPad.