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Ashworld ($3.99) by Pascal Bestebroer is an open-world survival adventure game that takes place several hundred years in a post-apocalyptic future. If you enjoyed games like Death Road to Canada, then you may enjoy what Ashworld has to offer.

Let's face it — whenever you tune in to the news these days, you may just wonder when the world is going to end, because it's inevitable at this rate. It may actually be better to start preparing for an apocalyptic future, honestly, and that's pretty much what you're getting in Ashworld. I've been a fan of Orangepixel's other games, like Meganoid 2017, Heroes of Loot, and Space Grunts, so when Ashworld was announced months ago, I was eager to give it a shot.

$10.99

Death Road to Canada

Rocketcat LLC

$2.99

Meganoid(2017)

Pascal Bestebroer

$3.99

Heroes of Loot

Pascal Bestebroer

$3.99

Space Grunts

Pascal Bestebroer

Visually, Ashworld retains the retro, pixelated art style that Orangepixel's titles are known for. Everything's rendered in 2D, though the game does feature dynamic lighting and daytime cycles, which give everything a bit of oomph to it. And despite the fact that everything is pixelated, the game still manages to pack in plenty of fine details and textures. The tiny character sprites on the open map are still distinctive from each other, though it's probably best to play this game on an iPad.

The colors in Ashworld are mostly dark and gloomy to fit the post-apocalyptic theme, but there's some bold and vibrant hues from fires and cartoon blood that contrast nicely. Animations are smooth and fluid with no issues of lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The game also features an eerie soundtrack that goes well with the overall tone, and sound effects are fairly realistic for what it's worth. For a more immersive experience, I'd recommend playing this game with some good headphones.

With Ashworld, even though it's an open-world adventure that's procedurally generated on new games, you still have the same opening each time. The story behind Ashworld is that in 2017, a nuclear war began. It's been 400 years since, but the remaining humans are still cleaning up the mess from that nuclear war. It's a game about survival, and resources like food and water are as scarce as they come. The Ragers rule the barren land, terrorizing their way to become top of the food chain. And at night, there are the Skellies, which only become more powerful as time passes.

It's up to you to help the protagonist survive this mad world by making use of what's left. You'll encounter various friendly NPCs who will help you if you help them, different weapon types to help you take out your foes, food and water to help you replenish energy, various vehicles to help you get around or squash enemies, and more. Ashworld even has its own crafting system, and you gain experience and level up to increase your survival skills.

While the game is open-world, it's an adventure that involves resource management and tests your survivability. And if you usually don't like open-world games because there isn't much guidance, Ashworld has story missions to help you get where you need to go. There's also sub-quests if you want even more to do. Once you have a mission, you can access the game's map at any time to view where your destination is. There's also an arrow pointer above your character that points you in the right direction, which is always helpful for those who get lost easily (like me).

The controls in Ashworld are simple enough, and they're fully customizable as well. In the bottom left of the screen will be an invisible virtual joystick that lets you freely roam around on the overworld. If you go inside of a building, then you'll have two buttons for moving left and right in the bottom left corner. The bottom right corner contains two buttons: X and A. The X lets you do actions, such as attacking with your equipped weapon. The A button lets you talk to NPCs or jump, depending on where you are. The A button shifts around slightly, depending on if you're on the overworld or inside a building.

When you're driving a vehicle, the game adds a forward and reverse button above the X and A buttons. You use these to accelerate or reverse the vehicle, and steer with the left and right arrows. It does take a bit of getting used to, but feels pretty good after a while.

If the default controls aren't to your liking, you can adjust them in the game's settings. It separates them into Platform, Running, and Driving controls, and lets you re-position the buttons as you wish, adjust sensitivity levels, and the touch area size (big, small, or default normal).

Ashworld is a tough and challenging game, and definitely not for the feint of heart. There's a lot of open space with the barren lands, and Ragers can come in at any time to fight you. It's all about quick thinking and reflexes in this game, as well as managing what few resources you have. Plus, nighttime is even more dangerous with the Skellies coming out, so trying to survive in the day to get enough weaponry is a task in and of itself.

An open world survival adventure set in a post apocalyptic future.

The Good

Ashworld is definitely a fun, albeit frustrating open world survival adventure. The vintage-style graphics are great, though a bit small on iPhones, and the sound is delightfully haunting. There is plenty of things to do, and surviving long enough to do it all is a test of skill. The controls are simple enough, but the customization really takes the cake. If you're not satisfied with the default settings, make sure to go into the options and tweak it around until you find the right settings for you.

The Bad

While Ashworld is a good game, it's not for everyone. As mentioned earlier, the game is not forgiving and can be rather difficult to get far enough to make good progress. I also found the slight shift in the A button position when switching between the overworld and platforming to be a bit annoying, but at least you can change it if desired. I also think the opening should be skippable, because I've seen it a few times already now.

The verdict

If you're craving a tough-as-nails survival adventure game, then Ashworld is going to be right up your alley. The game has great pixel graphics, the sound design is great, and the controls are highly customizable. But if you're more in the mood for a game that's relaxing, you won't find it here.

Still, if you're searching for a post-apocalyptic survival game, then Ashworld is a good contender. Ashworld is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $3.99. The game is also available on Steam for $13.99.

8.5

OVERALL

Replayability 9

Sound/Music 9

Game Controls 8.5

Graphics 8

Gameplay 8

$3.99

Ashworld

Pascal Bestebroer

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Super Donuts ($2.99) by Nice Westwood is an old-school platformer without a jump button. If that sounds a bit confusing at first, think of games like Sonic the Hedgehog, where momentum is the key to moving around. Super Donuts is similar to other games on the App Store, such as Eggggg and Le Parker: Sous Chef Extraordinaire.

When I was a kid, I remember spending hours on my SEGA Genesis system playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It was one of the few video games I had (I didn't have many) and I have incredibly fond memories of it. I'd always make silly mistakes that end up costing me, but I never gave up and strived to beat the game on my own. Ever since then, I've grown rather fond of platformers in general, including other classics like Super Mario Bros. So whenever a new platformer style game hits the App Store, I have to check it out, as it's one of my favorite genres. When I saw Super Donuts on the App Store, I was intrigued — I love donuts, sweets, and platformers, so this was almost like a dream come true.

$2.99

Eggggg – The Platform Puker

Hyper Games AS

$1.99

Le Parker: Sous Chef Extraordinaire

Play Pretend LLC

Free

Sonic The Hedgehog Classic

Sega America

Visually, Super Donuts! has a retro 16-bit pixel art style that definitely harkens back to the golden age of gaming. It has a cheesy look and feel to it all, which makes me love it even more. The game is rendered in 2D fashion, and the colors are bright and vibrant, just like the good old days. Animations are smooth and fluid, so I had no issues of lag or choppiness on my iPhone 8 Plus. There's also an upbeat and quirky soundtrack that I found delightful to listen to. The sound effects are pretty fun to hear too. I'm a bit surprised that the game doesn't have chiptunes, considering that it's inspired by the classics, but the sound is still done well for what it is.

Like classic platformers, Super Donuts is level-based. There are several different areas in the world of Sweetzerland, and each have a handful of stages. In total, Super Donuts has over 40 levels right now, which should be enough for anyone to get their platforming fix at the moment.

The levels can be pretty straightforward, but some are a bit lengthier and trickier to get through, so there's a bit of time involved if you plan on getting through all of the available levels. The goal in Super Donuts is easy enough: find all of the lost baby donuts that were taken away from home and rescue them. Of course, this is always easier said than done at times.

The controls in Super Donuts are incredibly simple and intuitive. In the bottom corners, there are buttons that let you move your donut character left or right. The only catch to everything is the fact that there is no jump button. That's right — this is a platformer that is sans a jump button.

"Then how do you jump?" is what you're probably thinking. Think of how Sonic moves when he's going fast and goes off a sloped ramp or bounce pad. He's able to gain air because of momentum, and that's how you "jump" in Super Donuts. When you move left or right, you can gain a bit of speed since you're rather round (you're a donut, after all). us your momentum and the law of physics to get the donut off the ground and reach platforms it wouldn't reach otherwise.

Additionally, there are power-ups that you can find that give you a much-needed boost. These power-ups include Bounce, Sticky, Giant, Super Sprinkles, and more.

In each stage, your main objective is to find the baby donuts that are hidden somewhere on each stage. Roll over them to collect them, and then the exit gate opens up on the stage. Along the way, you can collect the sweets, including the secret one that's tucked away somewhere just out-of-reach unless you put in the extra effort to get it. If you manage to collect all of the sweets, then there's a special treat awaiting you, but it takes skill and patience to get this.

Super Donuts! is a fresh and sweet take on the classic platformer genre, and it harkens back to many classics.

The Good

Super Donuts is a nice throwback to the classic platformer games of yesteryear. The game retains the vintage pixel art style that many of us grew up on and love, and the music and sound is designed well. The controls work well enough and it's easy enough for anyone to pick up and play. The goal is straightforward but there's still plenty of secrets for those who want to go back and get 100 percent completion.

The developer is also promising free updates with new features (high scores and speed runs) and levels in the future, so it's something to look forward to once you finish the game.

The Bad

I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with Super Donuts so far, but I did notice that the controls seem less responsive than I'd like them to be. For example, if I'm speeding along towards the right, but want to quickly turn around, I just seem to stop when I press the left button, rather than stop and then move in the other direction. It's a bit annoying and I then have to check to make sure I'm pressing the button touch area, so it isn't as streamlined as I hoped. The developer did say that an update is coming soon with some fixes, so hopefully this is one of them.

The verdict

Despite my small issue with the controls, I'm still having a good time with Super Donuts. The graphics take me back to my childhood days, and the music and sounds bring a smile to my face. I like the idea of a non-traditional platformer (in this case no jump button) and this game executes the concept nicely. I just hope to see more optimized controls in the future, and I look forward to the levels that are in store in upcoming updates.

8.7

OVERALL

Replayability 9

Graphics 9

Gameplay 9

Game Controls 8

Sound/Music 8.5

$0.99

Super Donuts!

Nick Westwood

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews