Air Penguin Review

Air Penguin is the type of game that brings together people who turn up their nose at the iPhone and those who relish it for gaming. It has super simple tilt controls, really repetitive level design, and is priced for an impulse buy at 99 cents. But, most importantly, it's really, really fun. Hate the damn thing or love it, the iPhone is the king of quick-fix gaming, and titles like Air Penguin are the reason why.

Air Penguin actually has a story. You play as the titular penguin, taking him on a journey to save other penguins from a series of icebergs that are slowly melting and breaking away. To get to them you have to use your Penguin's unique ability to jump and flip between the floating chunks of ice, tilting your device in the direction you want him to go mid-jump. Falling into the water doesn't kill you per se, but it does end your cute little penguin's run.

Sounds boring, right? Well, to make things more interesting you also have to dodge a bunch of other obstacles and enemies. Sharks pop out of the water, seals lay on the ice just waiting to knock you off, and holes in the ice will trip you up. Each ice chunk can also only be jumped on a few times before it's unusable (presuming you don't come upon it in a deteriorated state to begin with). All of these elements get mixed up into a large number of levels that feel just different enough to keep me playing, even if they're all the same aesthetically. And don't think they don't get hard either, because the later levels are so challenging they border on sadistic.

That's what makes Air Penguin fun. It's so easy to pick up and play, but it ramps up the difficulty to a degree that challenges your reflexes and makes completing a level super rewarding. The tilt controls also work really well, and are a prime example of iPhone game development done right -- no forcing in virtual buttons or sticks here.

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