Spoiler alert! Not only is Angry Birds Star Wars maybe the best game this year, it may be one of the best games ever. Angry Birds Star Wars incorporates the character's abilities to add new wrinkles and challenges. This is a great digital stocking stuffer, even for those who never fell in love with Star Wars.
How can Angry Birds survive its many incarnations and iterations without getting old? Because Rovio constantly finds new ways to challenge players, and the challenge to players in Angry Birds Star Wars is to master the force.
Once you reach the Death Star you will have to fight Darth Vadar's awesome levitating abilities. As long as he survives, you're doomed. |
 |
The levels combine all of the challenges added with the sequels, including the wonderfully fun gravity defying puzzles of Angry Birds Space. The birds have a whole new arsenal, however. Luke Skywalker Bird wields a light saber that reflects laser beams back at laser canons. Obie Wan Crownobe can shift objects with the power of the force. Han Solo Bird shoots laser pistols.
They take on Imperial Walkers that are almost impossible to destroy, the Death Star and fighters, and any number of laser canons. Players begin on Tatoonie and proceed beyond the Death Star to Hoth and Dagoba. Solutions that work on one level fail completely on another. The challenge levels introduce R2D2 with his retro electric shock powers.
You can't win until you learn how to manipulate objects. You will need to push rocks, turn laser canons on their allies, dismantle machines at their joints and even counteract the levitating powers of Darth Vabird himself. Many of the puzzles make Rube Goldberg machines feel simplistic.
The only misfire is Princess Leia. They left her character out in the first release. Really, the only strong female character in the entire series? (Sorry, I-III—really IV-VI—fans, but Amidala's character was as bland as the actress who played her.) They added her to the Hoth Planet episode in their first major upgrade, and what power do they give her? She blows bubbles.
Really? What was Rovio thinking? Or are women as scarce in their development force as they are in the game? It reminds me of the time my sister Beth got female action figures for her daughters' Christmas presents and they said, “Girls can't be heroes.” Sorry, guys, but Leia was the only character with any balls in the entire series.
Three Imperial cruisers? Can you take them down with five birds? You'll have to if you want to escape the ice planet and join Yoda on Dagobah. |
 |
The graphics are spectacular, the puzzles tougher than ever, and the game has a sense of humor that pervades every level. This much fun doesn't get much cheaper.
Jenny Manytoes rates Angry Birds Star Wars
Jenny Manytoes would make biscuits all over Angry Birds Star Wars. It's the only game where she's ever wanted to climb into and be launched across towers to take down pigs. Best Buy.
The Jenny Manytoes Rating System
Posted with Blogsy
iPad Envy 