Saving Yello Review

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Saving Yello Review

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Saving Yello Review

By Carter Dotson on November 22nd, 2011
Our Rating:

:: HELP ME
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Saving Yello is a physics puzzler that has players launching a hapless goldfish across 45 levels in order to get him back to the safety of his fishbowl.

Developer: Tactile Entertainment
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.1.2
Device Reviewed On: iPod touch 4, iPad 2

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Saving Yello is a physics puzzler from Demolition Dash publisher dreamfab, and it shows: this is a similar destruction-oriented game. The goal of this game is to launch poor mistreated goldfish Yello through various household levels, destroying objects in his way to get points. Fire, dynamite, and ice powerups can be picked up to help destroy certain objects easier throughout the game’s 45 levels.

This feels a lot like a platformer as much as it does a physics puzzler; having to navigate levels as well as destroy objects makes the game feel somewhat fresh in a genre that is extremely crowded. Also welcome is the game’s universal binary; many physics puzzlers avoid doing this, and considering that many physics puzzlers work better on the iPad, I’m glad to see a game offering universal app support. Sadly, there’s no cloud saving yet, despite OpenFeint support, but I won’t be greedy.

Saving Yello is unfortunately quite short; the 45 levels can be burned through rather quickly. I think the format could be played with more – how about levels that allow for unlimited launches, but would reward speed as well as point collection? The slot machine-esque element of destroying multiple of the same type of item in a row feels more like luck, or at least an artificial element introduced by level design rather than gameplay design, as the only real difference between objects is where they are placed in a level. As well, while there’s a star system here, I have to take this time to ask: what’s our motivation for collecting stars? Are they merely there as a checklist to entice us to play more, rather than as an indicator of progress? What exactly possesses us to keep collecting stars? I don’t know. This is a comment/complaint that could be made by many games, but I just have to ask, why?

Saving Yello is a solid entry in yes, quite the crowded genre, and while it’s not essential, it does things differently enough to be worth a pickup for fans of the genre.