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Category: Games
Developer: I-play
Requirements: iPhone 2.0 software
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod Touch
File Size: 35.2 MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0
Price: $3.99

Alien Blobs is, at its core, a “match the colors and eliminate tiles” game. There are tons of them: Aurora Feint was one of the first on the App Store, many more followed. What sets Blobs apart? It could be the fact that you play as a girl spinning around in dizzying circles holding a “Froom gun.” It could be that it’s played in a circular formation rather than in tiles, or that the balls are pretty small so its trickier to hit your target. It could be any of these things. But while they set the game apart, they don’t really make for an addicting game.

When you first start, you choose to either control the game via tilting or tapping. You can change your choice later in Options, and if you picked “Tilt” initially, you’ll soon find yourself using “Tap.” The Tilt is weirdly inconsistent. While it made sense for me at first, I soon realized I was tilting right to spin left and vice versa. It seems the controls are no more advanced than to say “move this direction at such and such a speed.” They don’t take notice of where the character is and which way she should go based upon that.

Once you are in tap mode, the game is a lot more bearable. At the very least, the problem of variable speeds and poor control is gone. But the game still remains fundamentally flawed. The radius of travel is just too big. You won’t be able to get to floating “items” in time unless they just happen to be floating next to you. If you see a great combo to hit across the circle, chances are it will be covered up by the time you get there.

All in all, it’s far from a horrible game, but it lacks the simplicity to be an addicting, quick game for a bus stop or waiting in line, and it just isn’t interesting enough to play purely for playing it.