Okay Geek Farm
iOS app - Paper Monsters review
Gabby Valenzuela
Paper Monsters, no, we are not talking about the solo album done by Depeche Mode, we’re talking about Paper Monsters for iOS. Yeah, I know, even way more hype. So what’s it all about? Well, think of Paper Monsters like a pop-up book of Mario dressed in a cardboard box suit (ummm…Paper Mario?). It’s just an awesome cardboard box dude that goes from purple pipes to purple pipes and collects silver and gold buttons and paperclips instead of coins. Yeah, this is nothing like Mario…
Paper Monsters
App type: Game
Price: $0.99
Compatible: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad — iOS 4.2 required
Developer: Crescent Moon Games
Our Impression
Ever find yourself going into the app store and choosing a random game and come to find out that it wasn’t the right choice to satisfy your appetite? The usual cause for this is that it was boring and didnt have much “umphh” to get your fingers interested, which led to a wasted dollar or two. But with Paper Monsters you won’t have to think about getting wrapped up into that type of mess.
As soon as the game starts you’re invited by a warm title screen with different modes to select through; there’s the main adventure, Drag’N Dash mode, (which scrolls the stages by itself, leaving it up to you to do all the jumping), and then there’s a seasonal mode that changes up the environments of the game depending on what’s going on around the year, (in this case it was Heartbreak Shakedown).
Your mission is put an end to Lord Papyrus and his minions, and to do so you traverse a number of worlds side-scroller style. There are no power ups, and your only means of defense is cracking the skulls of the reptilian villains with your weight, (a.k.a jumping). You only get three hits per life with an infinite amount of lives to get through dinosaur box like monsters that would otherwise like to rip you into shreds. Thankfully, those infinite lives will come in handy. Oh, and have no fear, you get colored pinwheels as checkpoints and present boxes loaded with health items to make each attempt a little easier.
You have two opitions in control types; virtual joystick or classic touchpad. The first lets you touch anywhere on your screen for your controls, but the second has actually virtual buttons for you to press which enable you to jump, bounce, port, swim, and fly your way to saving the world!
OCD about collectibles? The fun part about collecting gold buttons is that you are rewarded by dressing up your box dude (that’s what we call him) with different buyable costumes, this is just one way to add some more spice. Though, there is a faster way to get all of the gold buttons, all you have to do is buy buttons, with your hard earned real cash, that is, at the botton store. And whala! You got s-t-y-l-e: Style.
Paper monster is neatly folded into classic side-scrolling with vibrant and lively 3D character models and environments. Each level shines in its own theme; forest, desert, icelands, under the sea, yeah, you get the picture. There are 4 worlds and 16 levels, which for this type of game is a little short, though this may had to do with price. But if they ever do decide to add some more stages; perhaps a space, sky, underground, or cityscape, it would definitely add more bang for your buck. And though it may seem short, levels are fairly long and challenging, nothing to rip your hair out about or throw your phone across the room. There are a lot of hidden places that are sometimes dangerously hard to pass, which will lead to valuable paperclips.
Now in most side-scrolling games there is a window of invincibility after getting hit by an enemy, well in Paper Monster that window is pretty short. The game isn’t too difficult but if you don’t keep moving you could find yourslf dying pretty quickly due to this small instance. Boss battles are pretty simple for the most part. One complaint we had however was during the final boss, (don’t worry, no spoilers) they should have added a skip button during the introduction cut-scene that plays every time before taking on the boss. Due to its difficulty this can be time consuming and annoying, and it ends up sound more like a broken record over and over again.
Overall
Paper Monsters is a pick up and play kind of game, and once you get your hands on it you’ll fall in love with it right away. The cutesy character designs, magnifying bright colors, and various enemies demand your attention, and all it takes is just one Washington bill to start your adventure. And while it’s fimiliar (with the same Super Mario formula we’ve all come to love), Paper Monsters brings it into a new whole mobile world that fits into your pocket.
Download now on iTunes
Available on iPhone and iPod touch
