The Way You Move: Bounce Down Review

The iPhone itself, along with the great hope of smart phone technology, was expected to take over mobile gaming entirely.  This creates an interesting situation for iPhone game developers as mobile gaming had evolved to the point where it held all the complicated elements of modern console gaming, yet cell phone game development and expectation was still centered around brief amusement.  Cell phone games have conventionally been the realm of minor puzzle games that require only medial attention.  Now that the iTunes' App Store is packed with thousands of games ranging from these short distractions to licensed games from giants like EA and Square ENIX.  We have a great hope for the future of iPhone gaming in that it holds the same potential for complete videogame experiences as other platforms, but at the same time we can still have fun in games designed strictly for stolen moments.  

Bounce Down is a fun arcade style game that has had a recent success amongst free iPhone games at the iTunes' App Store.  It is variable with what you can expect from free iPhone games, usually because they range from real titles to excuses to advertise.  Bounce Down is different in that it is a simple game that is fully inclusive from the start. The goal of Bounce Down is to allow your blue blob of sorts to survive the peril waiting him at the top of the screen.  You touch each side of the touch screen to shift his position either left or right.  From here he falls from one platform to another, each one heading toward the top of the screen.  This top houses spikes that move up and down in repetition, and the bottom below is red hot lava strait from the Hawaiian volcano.

Each platform is somewhat different.  Some will remain stable for the entire time you are on them, while others will disappear shortly after your blob makes contact.  Some are conveyor belts that hurdle you in one direction or another, and some act as trampolines and bounce you skyward.

You goal as the the conductor in Bounce Down is to make sure that the blob never reaches the top or bottom and remains in a perpetual state of middle class anguish.  This proves more difficult than it sounds, but it never takes more than a few minutes for average players to lose their grip and send their Bounce Down blob to the afterlife.

Like many free iPhone games you have the option to connect to your Facebook account to share information.  It is assumed that people will want to roundly brag about their Bounce Down scores, but it is unlikely that any of your Facebook fans are going to care what you high score is.

Bounce Down is a fun free iPhone game, but it is by no means one of the best.  Instead it is a good small iPhone download that you can pack into your iPhone or iPod Touch until you get bored with it.  Games like this are the main mark of what has been occurring with iPhone gaming, and though it is a fun addition to the library we still hope their is more depth in the coming years. 

Three and a half out of five stars.