iPhone App: Blastination

November 2nd, 2009

= 3 stars

Retro arcade game where you draw lines to guide a bouncing ball to hit a plethora of objects.

The Good

Simple gameplay: use the iPhone’s touch screen to draw lines. A ball bounces around on screen, bouncing off of your drawn lines and various walls scattered about the playing field. Your lines disappear after a few seconds, and the ball can disappear off one edge and wrap around to the other side. Controlling the ball is easier said than done, and the fun comes from the rather helpless feeling of getting something done with limited tools; think catching a fly with chopsticks.
A “fast game” mode with a wall around the screen perimeter and a shorter amount of time to eliminate all the objects within.

The Bad

Not too keen on the graphics: there’s a lot of unnecessary stuff going on in the background. I seem to be more partial to retro vector or bitmap graphics than this particular style.
No settings to adjust.
After several go-rounds, not enough variety to maintain continued interest.

Conclusion

Moderately amusing game with initially appealing, simple gameplay, but lacks that special something to elevate it into addiction.

iTunes App Store Link: