Red Ball Of Goo Review

By , on October 20, 2010


Red Ball Of Goo
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Simple physics platformer.
  • Touch and tilt controls.
  • Clean cartoonish visuals.

CONS

  • Controls too sensitive for fine movement.
  • Little replay value.

VERDICT

For a game that was created in 24 hours, Red Balls of Goo is a surprisingly solid physics platformer and a fun experiment that can only get better.


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Developer Utopian Games, better known for their recent physics puzzler 'Bumps' challenged themselves to a 24 hour development marathon. Over this period they went from concept to final product and the three plucky developers ended up with 'Red Balls Of Goo', a physics based platformer that is by no means a simple challenge to conquer.

In each of the game's 30 currently available levels, you need to collect the lazy pink orbs scattered around various platforms before making your way to the exit. Your goo-ball can only move left and right, though much like Sonic the Hedgehog he'll quickly build up speed and you'll need to master ricocheting and environment manipulation to reach higher areas. However, what helps can also hinder and the acceleration can be a bother at times, making it almost impossible to change directions unless you press the opposite direction very early and even then you're prone to then flinging just as fast in the wrong way.

While the visuals don't have the same flair and polish of Bumps it's hard to complain given the time it took to develop and it's easy to see where the clean cartoonish designs were taken from.

The concept of Red Balls of Goo is a sound and fun one, something that seems to be a trademark for Utopian Games, though it's clear the short development time has left a few rough patches to smooth over. This is definitely a game worth keeping your eye on and with any luck future updates will make things even better.

Screenshots

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