Well I was pretty sure that Brick Roll would be the game to steal my heart this week, but then Kid Tripp came along and now I don’t know what to do. A hybrid of auto-runner and traditional platformer, Kid Tripp from Not Done Yet Games is hard as nails, and borders on frustrating, but I just can’t seem to put it down. There’s also a heavy Adventure Island vibe, which was one of the game’s inspirations, and I’m totally digging it.
As I mentioned this is a hybrid platformer, so your character runs on his own. However, running into parts of the environment doesn’t hurt you, it merely stops your movement. It’s kind of like playing Super Mario Bros. with the right direction of the d-pad held down the whole time, which is pretty much how I play anyway. Do note though that there’s no going to the left, something that was a big point of contention with some people in 1-bit Ninja ($2.99).
Controls are simple and elegant. Touch anywhere on the left side of the screen to jump, and anywhere on the right side to shoot. You can also hold down the shooting side to sprint, and holding down jump while bouncing off an enemy’s head or a spring allows you to do an extra jump off of it. Those last two moves aren’t explained in the game, but are crucial to mastering Kid Tripp‘s levels.
Speaking of levels, the one’s in Kid Tripp are very well-designed and remind me of the expertly crafted levels of Mikey Shorts ($1.99). There are often multiple paths to take or little tricks to learn about how to negotiate the terrain that can save you tenths of seconds on your completion times, making this a game that will probably be very competitive on Game Center. I think most anyone who grew up with Super Mario Bros. on the NES has level 1-1 committed to memory, and can rush through it with expert timing. That’s how it feels to play levels in Kid Tripp.
That aspect is fantastic but at the same time it’s also the cause of frustration. Kid Tripp is very much a trial-and-error kind of game, so expect to replay levels many, many times as you learn them and memorize where everything is. You have a set number of lives, though you can earn more by collecting coins and they seem to come frequently, but you’ll still have to start at the very beginning of a level each time you die.
The levels aren’t especially long or anything, but for a game where you’re going to be retrying so often it can really suck to die right before the end of a level and have to do it all over. Again. And again. And again. It’s a double-edged sword because it can be incredibly satisfying to beat a particularly tough level, but it’s also exhausting to get there.
My other major gripe is that currently Kid Tripp isn’t properly widescreen on an iPhone 5, though the black borders do receive your touch inputs so it doesn’t interfere with the controls. It’s just a cosmetic thing, and an update that fixes it is already in the pipeline, but it’s still annoying. Also I’ve had some weird screen orientation glitches when entering and exiting the Game Center interface, but I’m sure these minor issues will be fixed in future updates.
If you can hang with some very difficult level designs and heavy trial-and-error, you should find a lot to enjoy in Kid Tripp. If the game can be polished up and balanced a bit better with updates, it’ll go down as something quite special. Look for it later tonight in the US App Store, and find more impressions from players in our forums.
International App Store Link: Kid Tripp, $0.99 (Universal)
This review was egregious. Haha
"Once you accept that it's terrible, it's really not so bad." 😄😄😄
I have done all levels in this game plz hurry with new levels
is there a reason every article needs to be geared to 14 year olds who hate paying for stuff? this site used to be a daily check-in for me but with this new focus on bitching about iap in every article, I look maybe once a week now, and usually stop reading after one annoying screed.
it's almost funny... it's like you forget that pac-man originated in the arcade where you paid a quarter for each play.
Or he isn't old enough to remember.
It seems his biggest issue was the fact that this is another goddamn runner. Cause we really don't need another goddamn runner. If you're saying the original, arcade pac-man is the same as this garbage, i don't know what to tell you. But I wouldn't be dropping quarters into this.
I seem to recall TA giving a solid 5 star review to a certain agricultural zombie sequel despite it being free-to-play.
They gave Zombie Farm 2 five stars? When did this happen? XD
Probably because UNLIKE at the arcade, where you know going in what you're spending per play, the IAP schemes for free-to-play games are different depending on game/developer/etc.
And it isn't about criticizing IAP, it's about criticizing absurd IAP.
Oh look it's Namco Bandai! How about a tales game on the iOS? Oh wait... We might have to do a petition, beg online and sell our souls or something like that to be localized; Tales of Localization Never.
I deleted the game when I saw that they Ed the pellets 'cookies' instead
I deleted the game when I saw that the called the pellets cookies. Are they trying to cater to a new young audience? Terrible change.
I 100% agree with this review. (Let the flames begin!) the IAP is terrible, the runner formula is worn-down, and the game is pretty good...for a bad game. The graphics are excellent, the gameplay is solid and addictive, and the missions are actually pretty well-designed. (Nearing the end, anyways.)
The game is better than the cartoon, a given considering how godawful "Ghostly Adventures" is. Marty Ingalls, your phone is ringing...
Why the hell does Pac-Man have arms and legs?
Let's write some fan fiction and figure this out!
He's had arms and legs since before.
If you ever played Pac-man World for Xbox and stuff. That game was freaking awesome.
Because it needs to be am endless runner, not an endless roller.
The pellets he's been munching all these years have been radioactive isotopes in actuality. Slowly, steadily, his very genetic structure has been mutating this whole time. From a sphere with a mouth began at first small buds, than where once were buds digits formed. Longer and longer, hands, feet, arms, legs. Pac-Man was never himself again. Hounded by the other spheroid entities of Pacland he had no choice but to RUN, and run endlessly he did!
PAC-MAN DASH! sees the once sympathetic character chasing down ghost-after-ghost, gobbling everything in his path. At one time, he was doing it for Skylar Pacman and Pacman Jr., but now he had become something different... something unstoppable. He was Heisenburp. He was Ozymandigest. He was PAC-MAN.
Fear him, for he is the one who chomps.
This is probably in the store because they recently started showing a new Pac-Man cartoon on Disney which features not the real paan (yellow ball with a mouth) but one of these re imaginations of pac-man with two cartoony eyes, shoes, and gloves.
They should just remake the pac-man game that was out in 90s on consoles which was called PacmanWorld or Pac-world, which had great reviews and all that.
Eh, it's a free sonic :)
This game is a horrible combo between pac-man and endless runner. It's more like an advertisement for the new TV show. Seriously, if pac-man is combined with an endless runner, all creativity has been lost in this world.
By the way, this review is over a month late, for a really crappy game with a crappy idea.
To add on, the first half of the game is incredibly easy. It gets boring until much later in the game.
You should also add that it's based on the Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures cartoon series on Disney XD