Review of Archibald's Adventure for iPhone: The Best 2D iPhone Game Yet

Review of Archibald's Adventure for iPhone: The Best 2D iPhone Game Yet
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Archibald’s Story (4 out of 5)

The game opens up with a full narrative of what happen when Archibald and his friends were on skating spree at the back of the house of a certain Dr. Klumpfus. Dr. Klumpfus is a seemingly mad scientist who has been using his mansion’s back lot as a dumping ground of waste refuge from his experiments. Our hero Archibald accidentally falls into Dr. Klumpfus’ cellar. As Archibald stumbles to get out of the cellar,

something goes wrong with Dr. Klumpfus’ experiment, which forces the Dr. to locked down his lab, trapping our lost hero. This is where the game begins. Your task, should you accept the mission, is to help Dr. Klumpfus clean up his mess and eventually get out of Dr. Klumpfus mansion still human and free from genetic inducement brought about by the accident.

Archibald’s Gameplay (3 out of 5)

Arhibald’s Adventure offers a solid 2D side-scrolling 2D platform game. Somehow, it emits a sense of irony. Did you actually imagine that you’ll be playing a 2D side-scroller on a technologically advanced mobile phone such as the iPhone? Certainly not, especially since there are tons of 3D iPhone games available for all of us to download. But too much of the complex and highly advanced game can sometimes get boring and our only resort to get out of this boredom is to play something simple and yet different. This is why we really enjoyed this game. Archibald’s Adventure is your typical side-scroller, puzzle-induced game. You move from one end of the screen to another, open doors that will lead you to the game’s end level, avoid traps, jump into ledges (using your ultra-cool skateboard), race through the line to avoid moving spikes and dropping lethal substances, to reach the end of every level. During the early stages of the game, you’d received your typical tutorials on what the elements you’d encounter are. After several levels or so, it’s now up to you to survive.

Game Graphics (5 out of 5)

For a 2D game to succeed, two essential elements are necessary - Colorful and enticing 2D background, and solid animation movement. Archibald has both. The game is set on a creepy underground passage beneath Dr. Klumpfus mansion. The background was wel-rendered so much so that it gives you the sense of being underground, in a cellar-like environment. The obstacles and challenges that lies ahead of your character are well-thought-out and equally-distributed per game level. Every level offers a unique environment with enough pits and stops. This game’s graphics proved that the iPhone’s graphics engine is not only good for rendering 3D environments but 2D as well.

Music and Controls (4 out of 5)

There are two basic controls in Archibald’s Adventure - forward and backward. And in some levels you’d also get the upward and downward movements. These are represented by the 4-way navigation arrows on the left side of your iPhone’s screen. Most of the time it’s only the forward and backward movements that matter. Even if you need to jump off from one ledge to another, the game does it for you as long as you keep your finger on the forward arrow. You can’t control your character’s speed, only the direction of his movement. To open doors, activate switches and other tasks, all you need to do is to pass through them. As simple as it is, this is what 2D games are really made of anyway.

The game’s inline music is cool and appropriate. It adds some excitement to the game. Some of the tracks were cool enough to give you “last song syndrome” and will keep you humming them long after playing the game.

Our Verdict of Archibald’s Adventure on the iPhone (4 out of 5)

If you get too frustrated with the more highly advanced 3D adventure games available for the iPhone, Archibald’s Adventure offers something different, something fun and enjoyable. Needless to say, we highly recommend playing this game on your iPhone. It’s certainly worth the $4.99 you’d spend for it. Hurry up and download the game before the developers decide to bring back the game’s price to $9.99. If you’re still unsure, you might want to try out the demo first with free 3 levels opened up for you.

Photo credits:

Screenshot of Archibald’s Adventure by Rake in Grass.