iPhone App: Rolando 2

December 22nd, 2009

= 5 stars

Roll a cadre of rolling creatures called Rolandos on an mysterious island through a quest for the mysterious Golden Orchid.

The Good

• If you haven’t played the original Rolando, the controls are satisfyingly simple: tilt the iPhone to roll a Rolando in either direction. The game play area is a side-scroller. Soon you’re rolling several Rolandos simultaneously through varied environments.
• A “2.5″ perspective adds a neat look to the game. While initially jarring, it soon becomes easier to differentiate objects in the background vs. dangerous enemies and helpful objects for the Rolandos to interact with.
• Tons of added variety: Rolandos of different weights means different jump heights and reaction in water (the heaviest Rolando sinks and rolls on the ocean-floor), finger-controllable bows and explosions, plants with fruits of various capabilities, vehicles the Rolandos can wheel around in, and my favorite: an expanding Rolando that fills with gas and floats in the air when he eats a hot pepper. All of this variety is carefully thought out to improve gameplay and isn’t just for novelty’s sake.
• Outstanding level design: each carefully guides you to what you’re supposed to accomplish, so you rarely feel lost or confused as to what the heck you’re supposed to do to pass a level.
• Easier and shorter levels than the original, results in a game that’s much more fun. I got frustratingly stuck on a few levels in the original and had none of that experience here.
• Replay value: you can redo any level to beat a time limit or collect all gems.
• Even the music top-notch, and browseable using a fun rolling Rolando menu system.

The Bad

• Sometimes hard to control: be careful where you swipe to initiate a Rolando jump, because it it’s over a finger-controllable item, your Rolando won’t respond.

Conclusion

Rolando 2, a sequel to an already great game, avoids the sophomore-slump by adding carefully thought out, new elements that eventually reveal themselves as improvements as opposed to mere novelties. The makers didn’t rest on their laurels through repetition but instead raised the Rolando franchise to an entirely new level (pun intended). Rolando 3 — hinted at during game’s end — might be the iPhone gaming platform’s “killer app.” Highly recommended.