stephennn
09-28-2008, 09:25 PM
Mouse About - $3 AppStore
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=290142987&mt=8
This has to be the most overlooked game on the app store. I can't believe it completely went under the radar like it did, I actually only heard of it because of an article ign.com just did about overcrowding on the app store (which I personally found to be slightly exagerated).
However, they are right about it being a shame that this game somehow managed to escape any attention. I downloaded it this morning after reading the article and am completely addicted.
The basic premise is that you are a mouse that likes to eat food, you can move either up, down, left, or right, and then the mouse keeps moving until it touches a piece of food to eat. If there is no object or food in the direction that you sent the mouse, the mouse will run completely off screen into the clutches of a cat that likes to eat mice and thus costing you a life.
The trick is of course that there is a certain order in which you have to eat the various pieces of food in order to collect them all without sending the mouse off of the stage. There are also random objects thrown in some stages that you can send your mouse to, to keep him safe and obtain a better position to eat more food. The puzzles are randomly generated but there is still a sense of normal progression, as in the difficulty seems to increase naturally as you move forward despite the fact that the puzzles are random, and after you clear a certain amount of levels, you progress to different "worlds" that have new graphics, different types of food, and new objects. Each world becoming progressivly more challanging.
The control couldn't be more perfect, and is some of the best use of touchscreen as a gameplay mechanic I've seen yet. All you do is swipe the direction you want the mouse to run. Simple. There is no designated area on the screen you have to use, just swipe in any direction anywhere on the screen. The input is incredibly responsive, I have not had any delay or incorrect movement accidentally registered in the couple of hours I've played it so far. Very fluid.
The presentation is also very solid, high quality colorful graphics, simple yet catchy music, and nice (non standard UI copied) menus. Everything about it is very polished, which again makes me surprised that it didn't get noticed by the general public. This is a game with the same spit and shine as all the big boys. Not to mention the $3 price is just right, especially considering the replay value inherent with it's randomly generated puzzles.
If I were to have one complaint it would be that there is a bit of a delay between the time you hit the app icon on your iphone and when you actually start playing the game. It has two brief splash screens, which isn't a big deal, but it also has a loading screen that takes a bit of time, possibly 20 seconds or so. Though, I'm assuming that the loading may be the time it takes to generate the set of puzzles for the game, however, to make sure that once the game starts the new puzzles load up instantly even though they are all unique for your current game session.
All in all, I've tried around 100 games in the app store, and I'd probably place this somewhere in the top 10. For $3 it is a steal. Hopefully a toucharcade writer will read this and check it out and review it for the site, I would hate for people to miss out on this game simply because they never knew it existed.
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=290142987&mt=8
This has to be the most overlooked game on the app store. I can't believe it completely went under the radar like it did, I actually only heard of it because of an article ign.com just did about overcrowding on the app store (which I personally found to be slightly exagerated).
However, they are right about it being a shame that this game somehow managed to escape any attention. I downloaded it this morning after reading the article and am completely addicted.
The basic premise is that you are a mouse that likes to eat food, you can move either up, down, left, or right, and then the mouse keeps moving until it touches a piece of food to eat. If there is no object or food in the direction that you sent the mouse, the mouse will run completely off screen into the clutches of a cat that likes to eat mice and thus costing you a life.
The trick is of course that there is a certain order in which you have to eat the various pieces of food in order to collect them all without sending the mouse off of the stage. There are also random objects thrown in some stages that you can send your mouse to, to keep him safe and obtain a better position to eat more food. The puzzles are randomly generated but there is still a sense of normal progression, as in the difficulty seems to increase naturally as you move forward despite the fact that the puzzles are random, and after you clear a certain amount of levels, you progress to different "worlds" that have new graphics, different types of food, and new objects. Each world becoming progressivly more challanging.
The control couldn't be more perfect, and is some of the best use of touchscreen as a gameplay mechanic I've seen yet. All you do is swipe the direction you want the mouse to run. Simple. There is no designated area on the screen you have to use, just swipe in any direction anywhere on the screen. The input is incredibly responsive, I have not had any delay or incorrect movement accidentally registered in the couple of hours I've played it so far. Very fluid.
The presentation is also very solid, high quality colorful graphics, simple yet catchy music, and nice (non standard UI copied) menus. Everything about it is very polished, which again makes me surprised that it didn't get noticed by the general public. This is a game with the same spit and shine as all the big boys. Not to mention the $3 price is just right, especially considering the replay value inherent with it's randomly generated puzzles.
If I were to have one complaint it would be that there is a bit of a delay between the time you hit the app icon on your iphone and when you actually start playing the game. It has two brief splash screens, which isn't a big deal, but it also has a loading screen that takes a bit of time, possibly 20 seconds or so. Though, I'm assuming that the loading may be the time it takes to generate the set of puzzles for the game, however, to make sure that once the game starts the new puzzles load up instantly even though they are all unique for your current game session.
All in all, I've tried around 100 games in the app store, and I'd probably place this somewhere in the top 10. For $3 it is a steal. Hopefully a toucharcade writer will read this and check it out and review it for the site, I would hate for people to miss out on this game simply because they never knew it existed.