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Wednesday 16 July 2014

Up N Down - Simple Arcade with Multiplayer

Up 'n' Down by CheersBros looks like an entertaining arcade with neat graphics, funky music and simple fun idea. The added mutliplayer on single device is definitely a plus. So let's see how this one plays...

The game starts with an advertisement, which probably immediately deters some of the potential players and it's a shame, because the game is not bad. Unfortunately at least on my phone the ad takes some time to load. First it interrupts the music and shows a black screen for just about enough time that it almost looks like the game hangs at the beginning.

However it doesn't and after the ad, the game takes you to the main menu. There you can choose between singleplayer, multiplayer, changing character and high scores. The game idea is similar to good old Frogger, but the goal is not to cross the street, but to gather coins, but  we can still think of it as an endless Frogger. The difference here is that you jump up and down while dodging moving boxes.

 

The multiplayer co-op mode is much better and if you have a buddy to play with especially on a tablet, this mode is a lot of fun. However both modes suffer from little bit strange controls. To move up, the upper ¾ of the screen must be tapped and to move down, the lower ¼ must be tapped. This can get very confusing when you want to move down from the top platform, but tapping under your character will actually try to move it up.

It certainly adds to the challenge, but it just didn't feel like the right way to increase difficulty. But to be fair this scheme makes it possible to play the game with one hand only.

When talking about difficulty, the game is hard. There are unlockable characters and they need really high scores to get. I was not able to reach any of them yet. But maybe my reactions are just too slow.

 

The high scores are tracked online using Amazon Game circle so you can compare your results with you friends.

Summary

This game is a nice little arcade to play with your friends, but personally I think it needs better controls. Other than that it's a fun quick game with funny graphics. It's supported by ads that can get a bit annoying, but otherwise it's free.

Google Play store
Martin Varga is a Czech software developer who likes pygmy owls (hence Kulíš), running, ramen, travelling and living in foreign countries. He is also known as smartus or sm4 on the internet (read as smartass, but there are too many of them). He currently tries to make games in AndEngine like Mr. Dandelion's Adventures and hangs around a lot at the AndEngine forums.