Buganoids Review

By , on September 17, 2010


Buganoids
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • 8-bit retro-arcade action fun.
  • Multiple difficulty levels to start where you want.
  • In-game purchase to remove ads.

CONS

  • Shoot, shoot and shoot again; the simple gameplay doesn't evolve much over time.

VERDICT

Buganoids is another great free title from Backflip Studios and considering the price it's great addition to anyone's arcade collection.


  • Full Review
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If Julian Farrior, CEO of Backflip Studios is to be believed (and why wouldn't we!), Buganoids is the last of the companies free titles for the Summer, but what a great title it is! Just about everything oozes with a classic arcade feel, from the simple sprite art of the game's characters to the cabinet style buttons themselves; for old arcade fans this is nostalgia without the need to throw quarters/tokens down a slot.

In each of the game's levels your character finds himself marooned on tiny, bug-infested planets and he'll have to make use of his weapons to survive the onslaught. Two buttons allow you to run around the planet, while two other buttons let you fire your weapon and bombs. No aiming is required as your character will fire his gun directly down from his position, which presents a few interesting problems to overcome including having to wait for enemies that fly 'above' him to be on the opposite side of the planet to be killed.

While there's not a lot of variety in the amount of 8-bit baddies to kill there's a surprising amount of planets to deal with, each with a slightly different arrangement of holes for the bugs to spring from. As with other free Backflip games, you'll have to deal with an advert sitting on top of the screen, but players can purchase an 'ad-free' unlock in the game itself if this gets too annoying.

Buganoids is fun, simple and best of all it captures that 'retro' feel perfectly, barely cutting any corners to ensure the experience is as authentic as possible. Definitely worth picking up for anyone's arcade collection.

Screenshots

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