If the cavalcade of compliments on the Canabalt website don’t get you just a little excited about the game, then the full game preview that’s right on the game’s website will. Here was my experience of the game this morning, not ten minutes ago:

John Gruber link? Click. Flash Demo? Click. There’s a man on a screen breaking into a full sprint. All he wants to do is get to the right side of the screen, but the damn thing keeps moving! As he begins to run the building he’s in starts to rumble, and ominous music builds in the background. He runs into a filing cabinet and then a full computer terminal before I realize that the left click makes him jump.

This realization comes one lucky heartbeat before the man hits the window of the building, and to my astonishment and sheer delight, flies through the glass and hurtles towards the rooftop of the next building. Shards of glass soar almost gracefully beside him until both he and the broken window land simultaneously — the man in a roll, the glass in a clinking crash.  The music pulsates and the man starts to pick up the pace. He clears the next three rooftops in half the time it took him to run the first and this is when the music and the world simply explode into action. Buildings rumble and collapse, airships scream as they fly overhead, and I realize that after a mere 20 seconds of gameplay: Canabalt already has me hooked.

Yeah, the description’s a bit dramatic — but so is everything about the game. It’s a fantastic port, and the truly fluid,  heart-pumping action is probably going to make you look like a lunatic when playing it in public. It’s not normal to sweat that much over your iPhone — but it is awesome!

[You can buy Canabalt for $2.99 on the App Store, but check out the website first. Link thanks to Daring Fireball]

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