Bloons – One of the best remedies to a slow day at the office is loading up a good ol’ flash game that can be played through your Internet browser. I wouldn’t dare engage in such a shameless waste of my employers time, but I’m just going by what I hear…
Digital Goldfish has brought over an incredibly popular flash game by the name of Bloons to the iPhone. With the original game featuring time-tested gameplay and incredibly cute visuals, there’s no way to blow this port….right?!?
To set the table for the experience you’ll have in Bloons, I’ll quickly break it on down. You’re cast into the role of a dart-flinging monkey that’s hanging out on a levitating log in the middle of the sky. I’m not joking! Throughout Bloons’s 50 levels, you’re tasked with the job of using your monkey and his darts to pop a set number of balloons to advance to the next level. From level to level, the balloons are arranged in a variety of ways, so it’s not a mindless game by any stretch. The last wrinkle in Bloons you’ll be interested in learning about are the special balloons (bombs, ice, sprayshot, etc.) that you’ll have to strategically use to beat the level. These special balloons help add a puzzle component and novelty as you progress in the game.
Bravo to the team at Digital Goldfish for making an easy control interface to replicate the feel of the original flash game. To aim your darts, you simply touch and drag your finger to control the power, angle, and trajectory of your throws. Bloons feels very natural, but I only have one complaint about the otherwise flawless control scheme. After extended play, it became clear that some sort of reset mechanic needs to be built in to start over on executing your throw. At times, I found myself wanting to start my “touch and drag” motion from another spot so I can have a better view of the action. This is a relatively small consideration, but it is an annoyance I’d like to see addressed in an update.
With so many shovelware games clouding up the marketplace, it’s good to see that Digital Goldfish gets it with their debut application. Bloons is an outstanding casual game that is ported over as well as can be expected. It isn’t the most feature packed game that pushes the iPhone, but it won’t matter when you’re having a ball popping away during those 5-10 minute windows of down time.
