Review: Robo Surf (iOS)
Marc Kusnierz
Robo Surf is yet another "get as far as you can" game reminiscent of Canabalt, Doodle Jump, and *enter game name here*. That sentence may sound negative, but I'm a fan of the genre and Robo Surf does enough differently to set itself apart. The basic gameplay consists of riding a wave and controlling the height via touching all while avoiding obstacles—such as birds, bats, and other animals—so you better not suck at touching. It is fundamentally simple, but the game adds depth and challenge with what are essentially bosses.
The bosses tend to appear every 500km and this distance is treated like a checkpoint, allowing the player to resume from the last multiple of 500km they reached. The bosses can be defeated with the use of turbo—which is obtained through oil barrels or riding close to obstacles—or they will eventually leave if outmaneuvered for long enough. The bosses added a sense of excitement and kept me focused, where other games eventually bore me with their lack of variety. The actual mechanic of keeping the wave alive also requires more attention, as I found myself tapping the screen more than other endless running/jumping/etc games.
Along with an endless mode, there is an easily unlockable "10 waves" mode—a puzzle-ish mode where you have ten waves, or ten touches, to get as far possible. The strategy involved in using the ten waves efficiently is a lot of fun and works well for quick gameplay sessions, not to mention it's great for pass and play gaming. The visuals are simplistic and get the job done and the music is a lovely retro-ish song that never got old. At the $0.99 price tag—a launch sale—I highly recommend Robo Surf and it is an even better deal thanks to the fact it's a universal app; though, I prefer it on iPhone. One last thing, the game uses Game Center for achievement and leaderboard purposes, which I always appreciate.
Note: Also available for Android.
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