The Amazon Appstore brings yet another 'stellar' game in the Running game genre.
A buck off today, this app hits the pavement running with smooth looking graphics that compliment the game's space ship theme nicely. A slight jarring of the framerate was present in my experience on the Samsung Fascinate running Android 2.2 stock, but this didn't hinder gameplay much. Though occasionally the jarring effect would occur right during the perfect timing zone before a jump, slide, whatever.
Casually long load times and a repetitive soundtrack create a narcoleptic experience. Once in game, loading to the next level is next to nothing. I did notice an issue with difficulty design. I've done a lot of difficulty testing in my PlayStation testing years and this game does not gradually become harder, or remain simple during the introductory stages where getting comfortable with controls is more important. I noticed a hike at level 5 making it quite difficult to complete within 5 tries. No points for trying where I come from.
On a plus note, I can't express enough how Open Feint drives replayability on these small time consuming apps. Mobile gaming will never replace pocket platforms or home consoles, but Open Feint for its achievement system and friends list can narrow the field of vision between them. Making the gap appear smaller and defragmenting games is their strong suit. Thank you for awarding me achievement points for not only completing a level, but also for earning a Perfect score. And only a good game would do that.
Never said this was the best running game, but its definitely a good one.
Stellar Escape -
