iPhone Review: AirBear

Developer/Publisher: Origin8
Genre: Action/Platformer
Price: $1.99
Acquired:Review Copy Provided
Verdict: Great fun for fans of old school platform action.
Pros: Fun graphics and very intuitive gameplay.
Cons: Some modes are a bit monotonous

As an old-school fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, I took pretty quickly to AirBear from Origin 8.  Its certainly not a direct port, but play it for just a few minutes, and I think you’ll agree there’s some distinct similarities.  For those not familiar, Sonic is a side scroller where your cute hero runs left to right, collecting rings and negotiating obstacles.  Air Bear is a vertical scroller where your cute hero flies through the air collecting rings and negotiating obstacles.

In the Homeward Bound game, you start in the basement of a home and are instructed to draw little trampolines to propel your hero skyward.  Just touch the screen and drag your finger across to create the trampoline.  There are several key thoughts to creating Mister Bear’s stairway to heaven.  Stretch the trampoline goo too thin and your pudgy panda will bust through his landing spot.  If your next objective is to the right or left, you need to angle your shot. The bear bounces up, catches rings, or puzzle pieces needed to unlock the next level, and then tumbles downward.

If that’s all there was to it, the game might have a limited appeal.  But as you may recall, there’s obstacles to deal with, folks.  Early on, you’ll encounter bombs.  These will slowly dismantle your bear one limb at a time.  He really looks unhappy when he hits one of these bad boys.  Then again, I probably wouldn’t be too crazy about it, either.  But don’t worry, because as you capture additional rings, you manage to sew your bouncing buddy back together again.  Later on, you’ll find spinners in the room that can hinder both upward and downward progress.  As the game progresses, you’ll move from the basement, up through the home and into the surrounding foliage.

Bounce your way through the room and collect enough puzzle pieces to unlock the next level upward.  You also can unlock a ‘downward version’ of the same room.  This time out, Mister Bear has a propeller hat and you have to achieve similar goals while floating safely downward.  But use that hat sparingly.  Its batteries will run down.  If you don’t keep an eye on your power, you’ll perilously plunge your panda into a perfectly proportioned pile of…  of…  something that may well start with the letter P.  And it won’t be pretty !

I found the Skyscraper game to be far less interesting.  The gameplay is similar to Homeward Bound, except you just keep bouncing higher and higher.  The familiar obstacles eventually show up, but I just felt like…  ‘ok, I’m bouncing…  still bouncing…  bouncing some more.’  I suppose you could say the objective here is to get the highest footage.  I just got bored with it after a while.  I much preferred the Homeward Bound mode as I had a greater sense of accomplishment.

The designers have really tweaked this one nicely.  The default soundtrack is light and airy, but you can also open the control panel and select any music you like.  So whether you’re a fan of Def Leppard, Miley Cyrus, or Johann Sebastian Bach, you can really customize your experience.  The game also ties into the OpenFeint online network, allowing you to track and share achievements, monitor leaderboards, and find out who’s online.  For $1.99, this one should be fun for old school gamers and kids alike.