The endless runner genre continues to iterate across a variety of gaming apps for iOS, with clones and actual, unique ideas vying for the same space. Knightmare Tower, from Juicy Beast Studio, is one of the latter: a vertical endless runner with a twitchy, compelling take on the genre.
Players take on the role of a Knight, whose gameboy gaming session is interrupted by a letter from the local king. All of the king’s princess daughters have been captured by an evil skull, and must be rescued (sigh). Tired trope aside, the Knight leaps into action astride a wooden rocket ship, intent on flying to the top of the evil castle tower and rescuing a princess per level.
The meat of the game consists of two controls, tilting and tapping. While I’ve never been a fan of tilt controls in iOS games, here they are so well implemented as to be useful. Holding the iPhone or iPad in landscape orientation, gamers tap the screen to launch the Knight toward the top of the screen. Various baddies rise up from the bottom, and players tap the screen to drop their Knight on top of the monsters, getting a bouncy boost in the process.
This constant rhythm, along with the clever risk vs reward mechanic involved in dropping on top of enemies that may move or sprout spikes at inopportune moments, is what makes Knightmare Adventure worth playing.
Each time the Knight misses his target and drops below the screen, he’ll rise up again on his wooden rocket ship, but lava will rise along with it. Fall into the lava and it’s quite literally “level over.” Restarting each level happens quickly, so there’s little time lost when dying.
This constant rhythm, along with the clever risk vs reward mechanic involved in dropping on top of enemies that may move or sprout spikes at inopportune moments, is what makes Knightmare Adventure worth playing. There are mission-style objectives, and Game Center integration, of course, but these are just gravy on an already pretty tasty biscuit.
The shop allows players to purchase boosts and power ups to help them attain ever higher levels of the castle, saving more princesses and gaining more loot. Excitingly, the currency to purchase these items isn’t for sale; players must earn the cash while playing the game, either via dashing on top of bags of gold during their meteoric rise upward, or for completing missions like smacking a certain amount of monsters along the way.
There’s not a whole lot to complain about with Knightmare Tower, though the music can get a bit repetitive, and the reliance on tilt controls make for a tricky game while in a car or on a subway train. Otherwise, this is a game to keep an eye on: even at a premium $2.99 price, Knightmare Tower brings enough to the genre to enchant even the most jaded of endless runner fans.
 Product Name: : Knightmare TowerThe Good: Responsive controls, great cost/reward gameplay mechanics, great for quick sessions. The Bad: Tired “save the princess” storyline, no alternate control scheme The Verdict Knightmare Tower brings a few new mechanics to the endless runner genre with a vibrant art style, stellar tilt controls and a neat tap bounce mechanic that will have players hooked for quite some time. Buy from: App Store |

