Rolando is quite possibly the best iPhone game yet. I don’t care if it’s a Loco Roco ripoff — which I’m not even sure of, since the last time I touched something called PSP, it was Paint Shop Pro 9, but which I don’t suspect since the key pieces are missing in PSP’s hardware.
Look at Katamari, which was finally released for the iPhone. By any means an interesting and different game in its original guise, but on the iPhone it’s slow as molasses and you have to border on turning away the screen from view to perform a fucking 45° turn. Laggy and unplayable, and this is a good game in a bad port. And I’ve seen worse by far.
Rolando was conceived and made for this purpose, and it came out of yet another independent company. This hit ratio isn’t a coincidence. Not every independent game is a hit, but nearly every hit is from an independent company.
But I digress. If you need something to do during your days off this and next week, try beating Rolando. It’s not perfect, but it is that precise mix of neat gameplay, fitting looks and calibrated difficulty that’s maddening and makes you want to improve. Rolando, Mega Man 9 and Portal are the three best games I first played during 2008.
Moreover, I advise that the iPhone software platform must be opened.
Yeah, it’s a LocoRoco ripoff in the sense that they both share cute graphics, and there are uh, bad guys. Other than that, Rolando is quite different. And yeah, Rolando is the best “big” iPhone game yet.
By Johan · 2008.12.24 20:53
I know, it can’t be that close because the PSP doesn’t have an accelerometer or touch (both of which become progressively bigger elements — they’re not just gimmicks to use instead of “pushing triangle”). World of Goo’s also been accused of Loco Roco-likeness, I suppose, so maybe it’s just a graphical style thing.
By Jesper · 2008.12.24 21:12