Furballs! title screen

In my last post I mentioned that Block Off didn’t allow the display to flip depending on the orientation of your phone. Well, neither does Furballs!, developed by Dan Russell-Pinson, but at least this time the orientation is to my liking. Furballs! is a matching game where you guide floating little balls of fur into groups of 3 (and later 4) in order to remove them from the screen. You can only guide lone fur balls – the others float aimlessly in space, awaiting their match. They greet balls of the same color with a cute little chirp. The newly appearing balls also say, “Hi”. Pretty simple right? Yes. However, the developer does some nice things to mix it up a bit. First off, the fur balls come in all shapes and sizes (well okay, they’re organizes into shapes and sizes). Also, some different elements are introduced throughout the game. There are different types of meteors and there are satellites, the latter sticking to your fur balls, causing only grief. Luckily, the meteors are here to help: one meteor freezes the balls (yikes!) and one burns them (ouch!). Satellites are also affected by the meteors. The meteors can be real life savers in the later levels.

So I’ve explained the components, what’s left? Well, the point of the game is to clear the screen, much like a game Jackie reviewed a while back called StoneLoops of Jurassica. Actually, this game is almost a reincarnation of StoneLoops, but I think it’s different enough that I could, and will likely, play both. It’s also similar to a series of games I used to love for consoles, Bust-a-Move and Super Bust-a-Move. But I digress. The point of the game is to avoid getting too big. There’s a meter at the top of the screen, the shape of which I can’t explain (is it a branch??), that shows approximately how much bigger you can get before you lose. When you get alarmingly close, an alarm starts sounding. I think it might even be the alarm sound from the movie Alien. If you’re lucky, you will get a meteor or some luckily random colors to clear some groups. Otherwise you have to start the level over. One of the things I like about the game is that it saves your progress, and there are no game-overs or continues. You just play.

Furballs come in different shapes and sizes

As I stated earlier, the game is relatively simple. Beyond the meteors and satellites it’s really about being able to judge the movements and direct your balls appropriately – a little like Flight Control, actually, but incredibly easier. The game plays off this simplicity in good and bad ways. For example, it’s refreshing that there isn’t a score beyond what level you’re on. By the way, there are one hundred and fifty levels, whew! I’m currently on 40, so it could get more complex. Even if it does, I do appreciate a slow ramp to insanity. Games like Flight Control can be a little intimidating, to say the least.

The major downfall of the game doesn’t have to do with gameplay, graphics (which are nicely detailed, by the way) or sound. No, it’s the incredibly dull, nonsensical cut-scenes that weigh this game down. They are neither clever, nor funny, nor entertaining. They’re just simply… there. There’s no story, no explanation. Maybe the developer thinks this will attract the younger audiences? I don’t think so. Maybe there’s a need for intermission so your eyes don’t dry up or pop out from staring so intensely at the balls in space? Could be. At least you can choose to skip them and go back to hurling balls in space.

I’ve noticed that quite a few iPhone games include tidbits that don’t quite work, or are just distractions. From StoneLoops to the iPhone version of Bust-a-Move, there are makeshift story lines, or features that are just plain unnecessary. One of my favorite games of all time manipulated the idea of a storyline in a way that I have yet to see replicated: Shadow of the Colossus. Of course an iPhone game is not the same as a console game, yet(!), but they don’t have to settle for cheap tricks. Furballs! manipulates the gameplay and combines elements of different games cleverly and seamlessly, but suffers from unneeded, annoying fluff.