Moby’s Revenge: We Are All Made Of Starfish [Review]

I love developer Halfbrick’s endless runner Jetpack Joyride as much as anyone, but it always felt like it was missing something. And I never realized what it was until very recently. And then it hit me: baleen.

Baleen didn’t actually hit me; that would be gross. It’s all stringy.

Moby’s Revenge is a new endless title about a cute whale who escapes from an aquarium and has to avoid harpoons, mines, nets, and boats on his frantic and infinite swim toward freedom and wholesale slaughter of evil, Seaworld-running humans.

It sounds dark, but it isn’t.

Moby swims automatically, and you control his depth by holding a finger on the screen to make him ascend and releasing to make him descend, just like in Jetpack Joyride. You can also collect powerups to make Moby stronger or faster, just like in Jetpack Joyride, and you pick up currency items scattered along your path to purchase upgrades, just like in Jetpack Joyride.

A pattern emerges here: This game is more or less exactly like Jetpack Joyride. I even saw a mission listing that referred to your pickups as coins (the currency in Halfbrick’s game) instead of starfish (the currency in this game).

This game is more or less exactly like Jetpack Joyride.

Still, Moby’s Revenge has enough of its own charm and personality to distinguish it from its famous predecessor. And the ability to upgrade your powerups is definitely a nice addition to the formula.

Where Moby most differs from the earlier game, however, is in a pretty important area: Your cetacean hero handles like a whale. I mean, of course he does, but unlike Jetpack‘s Barry Steakfries, Moby feels heavy and is slow to change direction. It gets a little frustrating when you constantly hit objects that were impossible to miss because the whale just never would have gotten clear fast enough.

It makes sense, I suppose, although it’s an odd place to insist upon accuracy in a game in which toxic waste transforms a whale into a giant, two-headed, horned devilfish for a few seconds before he turns back to normal, but maybe that’s being picky.

Game Name: : Moby’s Revenge The Good: It’s Jetpack Joyride starring a cute whale with a grudge. Also, the music is pretty good. And it’s free. The Bad: Sluggish controls. The Verdict: This is far from the most original game you’ll ever play, but it’s charming, quick, and the price is right. Buy from: App Store – Moby’s Revenge – Patrick Ferling

[rating=game4]