Sky Tourist Review

By , on July 30, 2013
Last modified 10 years, 8 months ago


Sky Tourist
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Simple yet clever controls. 
  • Alien landscapes look great. 
  • Lots of souvenirs to collect and pictures to take.

CONS

  • Some may find the slow-paced gameplay becomes tedious.

VERDICT

If you fancy a leisurely travel through alien worlds suspended between two rockets, then Sky Tourist may be just the ticket. It's a bit of a slow journey, but some will appreciate the pacing.


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When the day to day grind gets a bit too much, a vacation the perfect way to unwind and put all our worries in perspective. As we adults often lack the innocent imagination of children, most of us wouldn't consider taking a trip outside our own galaxy. Well, that's exactly what Sky Tourist's protagonist Petey did, and it's your job to keep the little tyke safe.

Petey travels through through distant planets in a unique way: he is suspended on a rope by two rockets located on either side of the screen. Pusing both rockets upwards will propel Petey up the screen. Raise one rocket and lower the other, and Petey will zip down the rope and across the screen. This is important not only to avoid obstacles, but to collect all the currency strewn around (which is used to buy the souvenirs and unlock future planets). You musn't put too much strain on the rope, however, or your journey will be over quicker than you expect.

Each stage ends when you pass the totem poles. Complete five stages, and you'll get a neat holiday snapshot. This is a nice feature, as the landscapes you float past are really quite beautiful. Brushing by a cubed tree and having it react to your presence really helps you buy into the world.

Despite the relatively slow speed of the rockets, however, you don't really have the time to admire your surroundings. Perhaps it's your thumbs on the side or your focus on Petey himself, but it felt like aside from the snapshots, you're missing out on these great worlds that you're supposed to be exploring. It's almost like taking a holiday and spending it in the hotel.

Things become more interesting with the inclusion of physics contraptions and hostile natives, the rockets move so slowly that the game never really feels like it gets off the ground. The avoidance and collection mechanics at its core aren't enough to sustain the interest of the player long term.

But some will no doubt find the pace and gameplay to their liking. We suppose the title Sky Tourist is apt. It's a nice place to visit, but we wouldn't want to live there.

Screenshots

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