Review: iStunt 2
Score:
77%
If the iPhone saw the rise of the line drawing game, then I'm going to point out the number of tilt and balance games on Symbian during the same period as well. While many of them are cross platform, there are enough of them for me to call it a genre in its own right. So here's another balancing game. It's called iStunt 2, and it's one of the best.
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Like any genre, there are good and bad examples, and we've reviewed a few of them here on AAS. It's time for another, but the good news, at least for my sanity, is that iStunt 2, from Miniclip, is one of the better ones.
iStunt is based around snowboarding around an ever more complicated landscape, capturing stars and performing tricks to maximise your score while you 'board around the world and reach the end of the level'. Cue the moment of reckoning and either a progression to the next level, or if you're like me, replaying the same level to try and get all the stars and "complete" what's on offer before moving on.
But here's the thing that lifts iStunt 2 out of the regular accelerometer powered balancing game. Alongside the rotating of your smartphone clockwise or anticlockwise to change the orientation of your courageous snowboarder, you have a few extra controls to provide more flexibility to the level designer (and a bigger challenge to you).
Two of these are going to be needed to complete a level - the "duck" move, by sliding your finger down on the screen, lets you slide through smaller tunnels in the landscape, while the "jump" (slide up) gives you a bit of a boost to reach different parts of the sky.
The other two, grabbing the nose or tail of your snowboard, help boost your points total, assuming you can land the jump and trick move safely. They're not needed to complete the level, but if you're in any way competitive then the extra points and multipliers for chaining tricks together while in the air will be manna from heaven for you.
By adding in these extra choices, Miniclip have extended the life of the game - they've made it different to the other balancing style games out there, they've increased the choices available while playing the game, and given the level designers more options to create wickedly complicated, albeit short to play, levels. In short, the design of this game has extended what players can expect, and expanded it in a good way.
Throw in some arcade power-ups to give you extra speed, bigger jumps, and the ability to switch the direction of gravity, and you have a fun gaming experience, and thanks to the replay system, one that's perfectly suited to snacking like playing on the move. Throughout the level you have checkpoints, and if you crash or wipe out, you'll be taken back to just this checkpoint with very little delay. That means you can easily take six or seven goes at a tricky jump in a minute of playing. Given that most players will judge their progress simply by how many levels they can complete, this is a smart way to keep them in the game and playing a little bit more.
I also love that the graphics keep moving so you always have a good idea where your snowboarder is going to land - and that's important because if you don't land your board flat to the ground... well, that's when you crash. So making sure you have a good idea at all times is smart programming and design. That's another reason to give iStunt 2 a thumbs up.
There's lots here to love, even the music is funky enough for me to smile at it. Recommended? For sure!
-- Ewan Spence, August 2011.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at