Apparently Quantum Squid Interactive didn’t get the memo that Tilt To Live was going to be THE “avoid all the enemies” game on the App Store, because they came up with their own entry in the genre. I had the opportunity to take a pre-release build of the game for a spin, and while it was fun, I felt the subtitle “Simply Addicting” might have been a bit of overkill. It seems they decided to up the ante a bit. With multiple difficulties, 3 different themes and OpenFeint integration, Starball has a chance of grabbing the throne away from the one that would be king.

Starball is a simple game in premise. You must roam the screen as long as you can, collecting objects and avoiding bad guys. From time to time a power up will pop up as well. You simply run over it to pick it up, and depending on what it is the effect will be instantaneous or on a timer. If you have a power up that has a duration to it and you run into another power up, your first one will go away. My favorite power up is invincibility, not only because you’re temporarily invulnerable but because you can also destroy enemies during that time. My least favorite power up is clairvoyance, which simply shows the path of each enemy. I guess it’s supposed to help you dodge better, but personally I find it kind of useless.

Who do-do the doo-doo?

Controlling the game is a simple matter of tilting the device. Power ups are automatically activated when you run over them, so there’s nothing to worry about there. The game has three difficulty levels – easy, normal and insane. In easy mode you get a new enemy for every two objects you collect, in normal mode it’s a new villain for each object, and in insane mode you get two bad guys for each object you collect. You score a point for each object you pick up, and the game is over the first time you collide with an enemy without any protection. There are three different themes to choose from which are really more of a visual preference than anything. However, what I did find a bit disappointing was that high scores were kept not only by difficulty (which is to be expected) but also by theme. I think the latter was a bit unnecessary.

Like many games in this genre, the visuals are simple yet pleasing. There’s some animation, and a couple of special effects here and there, but nothing really dazzling. It all just looks nice. The three themes to choose from are a plus as well. It’s kind of ironic, because I just got through criticizing the whole “doodle” style of art that’s cropping up in more and more games these days, yet I find myself oddly drawn to the doodle theme in this game. Please don’t tell anyone! The sound effects are okay, and the music is good in short bursts, but it would have been nice if the audio was a part of the themes instead of having the same sound regardless of which theme you chose.

The biggest thing absent from Starball right now is achievements, but hopefully that’s part of the plan for having OpenFeint integration. Also, while I don’t mind the current themes at all, I hope there are considerations for additional ones over time. That aside, this is one slick little game that certainly lives up to its claim of “simply addicting”. Score another victory on the side of casual pick up and play gaming.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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[All About Quick Looks]