I'm still relatively new to the wonderful world of iphone/touch gaming. I got my 64 Gb Touch in January and have since loaded a pretty significant number of titles. To give you an idea of my tastes, some of my favorites are Doodle Jump, Plants vs. Zombies, Geostorm, Orbital, CoD: Zombies, Bookworm, Scrabble and Project 72. With that in mind, one of the first games that I purchased at the suggestion of both critics and users was Canabalt. I'd say I've played it for a total of an hour and a half (which is a lot of plays...), and got a high score of 8,500 which is pretty average I am sure but not bad enough to classify me as a "low score related whiner." Anyways, my question is - why the incredible hype and such high ratings for a game that arguably should be 99 cents? If it were rated on the sound and music, I'd have nothing but praise, but as for the gameplay, it feels repetitive and just doesn't have that Doodle Jump appeal that pushes me to get higher scores, nor does it attain that Orbital "holy hell this is hard but I must beat my previous score!" feel to it. I find it to be a rudimentary twitch game that requires pattern recognition (you can't effectively play without sound) excessive trial and error. And despite elements of randomness, it is simply repetitive. To each his own I guess
I don't know, as a game, I thought Canabalt was perfect for the iPhone. It's pricey for the content, but let's break it down: Gameplay: Addictive and exciting, plus highscores. Random events spice up the game. Soundtrack: Pure awesome with headphones. Beautiful for the game. Replayability: High. Highscores, frustration and discovering all the little perks. Load time: Pretty reasonable, much faster than Doodle Jump. iPhoneness: Great. It's better on the iphone than the Flash game no doubt. The one-touch controls make it easy to blaze through on the go. Quick note: Get the best game ever, Enviro-Bear 2010! See, if you ignore the price, you've got one nice game going on there.
+1, please use the search function. But if u ask me it is. Just save some money and get hellkid, it's better
I think Canabalt is the most awesome game ever made. Why spend $2.99 on something with modern 3D graphics when you can spend that money on a repetitive 1-button jumping game that looks like it was made 20 years ago? Wooo! Definitely worth the purchase.
Your opinion is all fair and good, but tell me, what is this doodle jump appeal that drives you? To me, it is quite the opposite. It could be that I find hand-drawn doodle jump graphics to be distasteful, but Canabalt's awesome presentation is what keeps it fresh and very playable. Not to mention that when many play Canabalt, they aren't looking for a deep gaming experience, but instead just a quick way to occupy time.
definitely only worth 99cents. its only fun for the first 5 times you die, afterwards it becomes frustrating.
When you're a critic, you have to play and test a lot of games. My guess is that many of these critics have grown tired of the increasing complexity of modern games, and they're reverting back to the simple games that they enjoyed as kids. This might be one of the reasons why Canabalt's "retro style" appeals to them. And as for everyone else... Many (not all) of them are likely under the spell of the positive reviews. Most people are willing to find ways to like something, even if it doesn't immediately appeal to them, because they believe the critics know better than they do. A critic's opinion has a lot of influence. I've never been much of a gamer... I've only owned 4 systems (Nintendo, Genesis, Playstation, and a PSP), so my heart doesn't fill with nostalgia when I play Canabalt. The only thing that I see is a cheap game that costs too much. Rocket Bird has a similar kind of gameplay, and it's free. I'd rather spend $10 on Mirror's Edge than $3 on a stripped down clone of it. I know, right... Lol. And I'm about to spend $4.99 on Need for Speed Undercover.
It really is for a game of that quality, you're not exactly a big spender by spending ten dollars. Not calling you a cheapskate either, it's just that, that wasn't a good example.
Yah I know, but I was talking more in general. Not just in crazy appstore prices. Getting GTA for 10 bucks is an amazing good deal for a 30 dollar plus game, but this thread isn't really about that I guess so I'll leave it at that.
Canabalt is amazing... in my opinion Obviously people's opinions change on this sort of stuff, for example I know a guy who can't stand doodle jump. I personally love this game and have put more hours into it then any other on my iPod (although the FF ports may change this) The only real way of telling if this is worth it for you, is playing the hell out of the flash version on the web and if you're still enjoying it get the app! It's also a really fun game to pass around a group of friends and see who can get the highest score in one go ect. I don't think strip Canabalt has been invented yet though...
