Format: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Developer: Duello Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.
Duello are the people who gave us the pretty big hit that was iSlash. Well they are back with a game that I have a feeling could turn out to be a monster of a hit as time goes by. This has all the makings of a huge iOS hit. But so do many games and for some reason many of them just do not catch on the way that they deserve to.
Bellyfish looks amazing. The cast of characters including the title Bellyfish all have a great nice cartoon look to them. And they just ooze personality. It has that Disney/DreamWorks animated style look to the characters. I could easily see a whole shelf full of Bellyfish merchandise in toy store at some point in the near future.
As great as the character designs are I love the overall art style of the levels. The game is set underwater, but the backgrounds are amazing. I love it when a developer goes that little extra mile and these guys clearly have put a ton of time into making this underwater world come to life. Not only does everything look great, but the animation is just flawless. Add to the great graphics a nice soundtrack you have a game that in terms of its presentation is just first class.
Ok I have finished getting giddy over how great this game looks. And I am more than happy to tell you guys and gals that this game is just a hoot (yes I used the term hoot) to play. Your goal of the game is to get Bellyfish from the bottom of the ocean to the top. This is an endless runner game. Or should we say endless swimmer game. And you just keep on playing until you get stopped. You will use tilt controls.
HEY I heard you groan then!!! And I can see why. I am not the biggest fan of tilt controls either. But the ones here work really well. And one very interesting thing is that you can calibrate them so that you can even play this game while you are laying in bed. The tilt controls are very smooth and most importantly of all they are responsive and they just plain work.
Bellyfish has many underwater enemies who want him dead. Really what could this little guy have done to have all these other sea creatures after him? Anyway one hit kills you, but as you move up the ocean you can pick up bubbles which can let you take more hits. The goal though is to get as high as possible. So it can be a gamble to try and get bubbles.
There are some great power ups in the game my personal favourite being the one that makes you look like a ghost. These power ups can turn the game a little and let you dish out some punishment on the enemies in the game. I love the way that the power ups as well as having a practical function. All have a great and funny look to them that makes them fit in with the rest of the game. You collect coins to get power ups, but you can use real money to buy them from the in game store if you so wish.
I love Bellyfish, my kids love Bellyfish, even my wife who is not really a gamer loves Bellyfish. This is one of those games that the whole family can get into. It costs a buck and there are in app purchases, but the game is very fair with them. You do not need to spend a penny more than the original price to enjoy this game. But if you really get into you can buy some coins to get the power ups faster. This is a great game and one that would be a bargain at double the price.