I feel like I’m saying this more and more lately, but it’s more true every day: the App Store is over-saturated.  So what’s a game to do to stand out?  Sadly, it doesn’t always take originality, because if that were the case iBzoing should have earned more attention.  Of course, the fact that you can’t really pronounce the name doesn’t help a whole lot, but that’s been the case of some of the best games I’ve played over the years.  I think the game could use a bit more polish and flash, but it’s a nice start and quite a unique game.

The premise is simple: guide one or more balls into holes of the same color on the playing field.  This isn’t your typical Super Monkey Ball style action, however.  This is an old fashioned 2D puzzle game, and while you can control the left and right motion of the balls to an extent through tilting the device, you must launch the balls into the air via colored tubes with rings on the end.  There’s a trick to this, however.  A ball can only enter a ring of the same color as the ball.  And, the ball will take on the color of the tube attached to the ring.  To further complicate things, a ball will roll through walls that are a different color than it and bounce off of walls that are the same color.

The trick is in providing just enough tilt to get the ball where you want it to go.  The problem is that a lot of times it feels more like luck of the draw than like you’re actually using any skill.  I also think the difficulty balance is a bit off.  For the longest time I was stuck on level 8, and when I finally beat that one level 9 was a piece of cake.  I’ve since inadvertently restarted the game, and level 3 is an immense pain compared to levels 1 and 2.  Difficulty levels should slowly climb throughout the course of the game, and not jump sporadically across the board like that.

Which Way Do I Go?

Graphically the game is plain.  The objects are basic lines and circles, which I realize is all that’s necessary to play the game.  However, in this case it feels a bit too simplistic.  The game could use a little more flash.  Maybe something besides a solid background.  Maybe some sparks when you beat a level.  I don’t know, but it just needs something.  Even the title screen is nothing more than the word iBzoing with two buttons.  The sound effects are fine, and I’m not really sure what you’d do with them anyway.  Unfortunately there is no music, so the overall atmosphere of the game is pretty bland.

I contend that the biggest reason iBzoing got lost in the shuffle is because of the presentation.  There’s a great game trapped inside of a less than professional package.  The game starts out with a title and two buttons.  One lets you play from the last level you were on, while the other starts from the beginning.  There are no labels, however, so you just have to press one and hope for the best.  There are no instructions, either, and the little description to be found in the App Store doesn’t help much.  If you’re the kind of person that’s hung up on fancy graphics, the screens shots won’t sell this one for you either.  Basically, there’s not a lot about the game that says “hey, try me”.

That’s a shame, because you’ll be missing out on a pretty original experience, especially if you’re a puzzle gamer.  Unfortunately, due to the lack of polish and extreme difficulty I can’t flat out recommend the game, but despite all the things that would normally cause me to say “no thanks” I can’t flat out not recommend it either.  So, the final result is…

Final Verdict: On The Fence
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[All About Quick Looks]