Angry Birds

What is it? I’m not going to waste your time with an unnecessary reflection on Angry Birds. It’s an iPhone game, millions upon millions of people have played it, and you probably already know what it is. What you may not have known is that this game, Angry BIrds Rio, is a tie-in with the upcoming animated Fox film  Rio, and that it’s the first time since Angry Birds’ debut in 2009 that the pig-smashing action has gotten a significant performance upgrade.

The game looks downright nifty thanks to the inclusion of a cool little graphical technique calling  parallax scrolling, and instead of pigs you’ll be taking down evil monkeys and freeing characters from the upcoming film. There’s even a pretty interesting boss fight at the end of the included 60 levels, a first for the Angry Birds franchise.

Who made it? Angry Birds Rio is brought to you by Rovio, a company that has seemed perfectly content doing nothing but ports and pseudo-sequels to Angry Birds since its debut in 2009.

Are there differences between the iPhone and iPad version? No major differences, but I prefer playing Rio on the iPad because the larger screen removes the need to zoom out the game’s camera quite so far.

What works? I’m not sure if Angry Birds Rio’s physics system is any different from the one found in the original game, or maybe it’s just a revised style of level design, but it seems like it’s a lot easier to wreak environmental havoc in Rio. You’ll tear through massive stacks of crates, causing huge, toppling piles of bird-freeing mayhem that results in all-too satisfying chain reactions. It’s ultimately the same gameplay you’ve seen for the last year and a half, but it’s definitely still fun.

What doesn’t work? I was able to play through every last level in Angry Birds Rio in about two hours, and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to replay those levels to get three stars (it nearly killed me getting just one star on some). It just seems like too little, given the amount of funding I know Rovio has in their pocket, and although I praise the game for its graphical and design improvements, this still isn’t a proper Angry Birds sequel. Rovio needs to do something to make everybody fall in love with their disgruntled fowl all over again, and another level pack (albeit a pretty one) isn’t the answer.

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Download:
Mediafire