Halfbrick seems to have been on a streak of redoing their older games recently, not always in a good way as they usually change them drastically. I'm not sure how Monster Dash Redux makes me feel given it's basically been in the hands of another dev this time but yeah, it's like they want to make a fairly basic "beat your high score" game into something more likely to appeal to a freemium crowd. No bad thing, devs need to make money but I'm concerned that they're not going to bother doing a game without consumable IAPs in the future which is weak, most of their best games were great single tier consumable premium games and those aren't even the same anymore.
Whatever they think they're doing "right" isn't reflecting well in the user reviews on iTunes. They went from 4 1/2 stars average yesterday to two stars today. It doesn't bother me enough to go leave a negative review on iTunes, but I don't really like it.
Monster Dash is/was an absolut classic in the endless runner genre. This update is a candidate for the worst update ever. Can't decide between this and Whale Trail.
Too bad the energy system was implemented. The gem IAP system is pretty bad too. It's nice to see an old game revamped, but not when it's blatantly trying to vacuum $$ out of our wallets.
wow - wholly agree. This was probably the classic runner for me when I came to iOS in 2010. This and Whale Trail are absolute heart-breakers for me as they were both perfect the way they were. Can't believe HalfBrick screwed up with Steakfries. Bye bye monster dash.
Wait, The Whale Trail went freemium too? Ugh! Then again, people kind of force devs to do that kind of thing when they want both no ads and for it to be free, as well as no In-App Purchases! That usually is not possible! I mean, the devs have to make money, right?!
I didn't like the Fruit Ninja update when they first added Starfruit, but really liked the most recent update series with the missions, etc. JJ has been great from day one, and I'm neutral on the AoZ update. I don't really care either way about the graphical update. I thought this was a neat update when I first installed, with the daily missions, and the upgrading of the character. I hadn't actually played it much until this evening, when I played 5-6 times, and then got hit with running out of energy and a timer or a purchase to run again. I know that charges reset at 5 minutes per charge, but only being able to play six times, when a run can easily end in 30-60 seconds, especially on the harder daily challenges, is not fun. It's sad to see Halfbrick go down this route. I haven't always been interested in some of their games, like the matching games (Birzzle Fever, Top Chef), but this may be the first game of theirs that I actually like, that I delete. I'm normally pretty cautious with updates when the update notes indicate a large change in the direction of the game, but I felt I could trust Halfbrick. I realize they need to make money, but as someone who's purchased their previous games, bought coin doublers in JJ, etc, it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
This didn't go back to paid so I guess that "App of the Week" crap was the perfect opportunity for Halfbrick to go all the way Freemium with this one, as expected, after the update
Only gripe I have is the energy system. Doesn't fit with the rest of the changes. Current event is seeing how far you can go in a winter theme run which is super hard. Burned through my energy in less than 5 minutes. If jetpack Joyride had energy back when it launched I would have deleted it instead of playing it for an insanely log time like I did.
I think I'm pretty much like everyone else here. I pretty much like everything they did with the update, except the energy system. I appreciate them bringing the game back to life because it was one of my favorite runners and I love the fact that you can level up now, but that timer!!!
I bought it with an iTunes Gift Card that I got for Christmas last year. But, why didn't you like it when they first added The Starfruit? And also I haven't updated yet, nor do I plan to!
Well, Angry Birds Star Wars 2 was free for a while before going back up to paid. Edit: Oh wait, I guess it is now paid again!
My issue when they first added the starfruit was that from what I remember, you'd earn maybe 20-50 starfruit per game. If you managed to have a starfruit go by in game, you could slice it and get a few hundred. The top blades and backgrounds, though, cost on the order of 10,000+. It seemed like there was no possible way for me to play enough to earn the blades, many of which have neat effects. With the current leveling system, it feels much more attainable to get the different blades. I also like the new powers they each come with.
I'm guessing Halfbrick got a lot of bad feedback, because today's update to Monster Dash adds back the classic game with unlimited plays, and you still earn coins that can be used to unlock weapons and character upgrades in the new mode. Very nice to see them add classic back.
