It seems like nearly every classic video game mechanic in existence is represented on the App Store in one way or another, either through blatant clones, lovingly inspired homages, or something else in between. Mummy Panic [$2.99] lies somewhere near the “lovingly inspired homage" side of the spectrum, with gameplay reminiscent of Chu Chu Rocket, graphics that remind me of the dungeons found in Zelda: A Link to the Past, and a load of other video game and movie references that will either go completely over your head, or leave you smiling.
In the game, you must guide a set of mummies to open crates of loot, where they hope to go un-noticed, get boxed up, and finally escape the pyramid they’ve been trapped in for so long. Hitting a button in the bottom right corner of the screen puts the mummies in motion, and they’ll walk forward until they hit a wall or other obstacle, turn right, and keep walking. You can change their direction by placing arrows on the floor, and each level has a limited number of arrows you can use. Later levels introduce traps to avoid, and explorers to evade. There isn’t any penalty for goofing up on a level, and you can either play the game via careful analysis and planning to get the mummies in their crate in one shot, or just keep moving arrows around and guide them there with trial and error.
Three difficulty levels are included with over 50 levels. It would be nice to be able to skip forward a few levels if you get stuck like you can in similar puzzle games, as getting stumped and being stuck on a level is really the only down side to Mummy Panic. Either way, I’m a huge fan of any game with sprite based art, and the developers of Mummy Panic have done a great job at emulating the look of an old 16-bit game, much like Super QuickHook.
They’ve also put together a gameplay video which serves as a bit of a tutorial, walking through the first two levels and going over the mechanics of the game which I’ve already mentioned:
If you have fond memories of the Dreamcast (and Gameboy Advance) game ChuChu Rocket, or just like the idea of a puzzle game where you’re helping mummies escape, give Mummy Panic a try.
