Review: Bouncing Critters

Today  we have a fresh iOS title up for review. Bouncing Critters a game developed by Sgougou Tech Co., Ltd is blend of fixed shooter and block breaker games we are all very familiar with. The concept is very simple but grips the player from the word go.

You find yourself in the shoes of a helpless farmer who was been invaded by mischievous critters, headed straight towards your fresh produce. Unlike most games that get boring and repetitive, Bouncing Critters keeps you engaged through a multitude of enemies, equipped with different abilities and movement characteristics.  If that is not challenging enough players also have to deal with changing environments. You can shoot down enemies running towards you but what if they go underground or hide in the sand?

Thankfully though you can use freshly grown eggplants to get back at them. Swipe across the screen to create a bouncing eggplant trampoline that deflects projectiles hurled towards you back at moving targets eliminating them. Depending on the direction of your swipe, the bananas, acorns or angry birds bounce back hitting and damaging your nemesis. So to say the least, there are a plethora of variables you need to deal with. Looks easy but when in the driving seat you are so immersed that blinking an eye seems impossible.

I was truly taken aback by the speed and seamless gameplay bouncing Critters has to offer. The game keeps you guessing what’s about to come next. Bouncing Critters challenges players with 80 unique levels and 60! yes 60 different critters that need to be dealt with!

For players still craving for more, there is a UFO mode that unleashes endless waves of rodents hell bent upon destruction. Sgougou also has nicely crafted cut-scenes to guide players and keep them informed of upcoming challenges. Players therefore can follow the story closely as they get their hands dirty.

The game nicely ties into the game center so you can aim for the leaderboards and compare progress with friends. Plus there are in-game trophies that earn players gems that can be redeemed for unlocks and abilities. You can use missiles, explosions and other aids to help you when the competition becomes to hard to deal. Like other games, Bouncing Critters has in-app purchases which let players buy gems to get some tricks in their arsenal. For some reason we could not get Bouncing Critters to sync up to our game center, which is something that the developers might want to look into.

Another element that gives the game a nice touch is the effort put in to developing visuals. Bouncing Critters has good clean graphics that you would expect from a  premium title and puts it in competition with any of the popular contemporary titles out there. Sound effects are good with backing tracks for each level / scene so players don’t have to deal with the same music over and over again. So if you are one of those players that like turning the volume up a little, you can experience different sound tracks without the repetitive element. There are also random drops in the form of time sensitive treasure chests, which if tapped earns coins.

One area however that the game can greatly improve on is the scoring system and language. Though, it doesn’t hamper gameplay but clearer phrases and simplified scoring system would help the user experience greatly. Right now the text seems to be translated into english which at times is hard to understand. Some scoring criteria goes in great detail to give players percentages which feel confusing. For example, The tooltip “3% to make 150% damage. 4% to make 150% damage in next level” is hard to comprehend.

Nevertheless, we feel that the Bouncing Critters has a lot to offer and is definitely worth giving a shot! We therefore recommend players looking for a break in monotony to check out Bouncing Critters and test their geometry skills and reflexes!

Bouncing Critters is currently available for iPhone and you can download it from iTunes below:

Experience some Bouncing Critters madness below: