Colossal is a vertical shooter developed by seventeen year old Daniel Bryant, and one of its major bullet points is the fact that it was completed and submitted in just under a week. This is a real feat considering Daniel was the only developer, but it simply wasn’t enough time to turn Colossal into something that can realistically compete with other $0.99 titles on the App Store.
Gameplay is rough, but still fun in quick bursts. You pilot your ship by using the scrollbar at the bottom of the screen to dodge from side to side, and you’ll fire your main weapon by simply holding your finger on the screen (moving + firing in one motion). The strange thing here is that the controls don’t function like you’d think they should — most other games require you to tap on your ship or on the area under your ship to begin moving it. Colossal’s ship can actually teleport, provided you tap somewhere else along the bottom of the screen (you can tap to dodge, instead of having to slide to dodge). I’m pretty sure this isn’t an intended effect, but rather the result of a control set that hasn’t been fully fleshed out yet.
There isn’t much eye candy to speak of, although there are some interesting UI aspects. Colossal’s Springboard icon is remarkably good, and the main menu can be flicked left or right to reveal extra detailsa (though most dialogue boxes are far too dark to read).
The game’s sprites aren’t great, but they look decent enough. Plenty of titles can get away with simple or retro looks provided the gameplay mechanics are addictive or varied enough. Unfortunately, Colossal just doesn’t deliver in this area: most enemy encounters are exactly the same, with projectiles all fire and behave in the same way, and there aren’t any power-ups or upgrades to change the pacing of the action.
The stages can be completed in under two or three minutes, and there are only three of them — with little difference between them aside from the backgrounds and a boss battle. The included Freeplay mode is supposed to set you up against an endless wave of enemies, but it seems to be broken right now, and automatically ends the game whenever your score hits 1730.
One of the great things about the App Store is how inexpensive the developer program is: meaning that indie developers can theoretically sit right beside professional development studios on the Top Ten lists. However, this low barrier of entry also means that competition is fierce — and although I admire the ambition behind the app, the whole package could still use a lot more time in the oven if it’s going to sit on the same shelves as all of the other $0.99 gaming titles on the App Store.
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Colossal is available for $0.99 on the App Store, although it’s on sale for FREE this Easter weekend. I downloaded the free version of the app yesterday to test it out.
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TAGS: iphone game
