Labyrinth 2 is one of those apps that makes you feel grateful that Apple has an App Store. Hidden behind its miniscule $4.99 price tag is a game that combines all of the essential components in creating a mobile phone game: it’s fun, it’s simple, it’s creative, and it’s addicting. But what really drives home the value of this app is its longevity. The game comes with a code that allows you to create your own levels on your home computer. This expands the replay value of this game to almost infinite levels (pun intended).
There is one basic thing to know about Labyrinth 2’s gameplay: tilt. This game is all about the iPhone’s accelerometer. If you’re uncomfortable using that, this game might not be your cup of tea. I would, however, encourage you to still give it a shot. Prior to Labyrinth 2, I was never a fan of using the accelerometer. I found it to be clunky and a pain to use. After a few rounds of Labyrinth 2, however, my opinion changed. It’s still challenging, but it blends perfectly with a lot of fun.
The main menu has seven options from which to choose: Single player, Multi player, Download levels, Settings, Our games, Create, and Awards. I’ll go into Single player, Download levels, and Create in more detail. But first:
Multi player: I cannot comment on this feature as I was not able to try this game out with a friend.
Settings: There are four settings you can change in here: Calibration, Sound FX, iPod Music, or Vibration. I found the Vibration feature to be rather useless, so I turned it off.
Our games: This allows you to view the other games that Illusion Labs has released in the App Store.
Awards: This screen reminds me a lot of Xbox Live Achievements or PSN Trophies. There are several different awards you can win. Each one is listed here, along with your progress made on each of them. At 7, 16, and 29 awards achieved, you "level up." This screen also shows the amount of time you have played the game and your total distance rolled. This screen is fun to check out every now and again.
SINGLE PLAYER
The top bar in single player mode has three options: Official, Downloaded, and Faves. Official is what I will discuss below. Downloaded will be covered in the next section. The Faves section are the levels you have "favorited." Tap the "i" next to the level pack, and it will take you to a screen where you can preview all of the levels in that pack and/or add it as a favorite. It would be nice to be able to favorite individual levels instead of the entire level pack. This would allow you to create your own mix-and-match level pack. Maybe this will be possible in a future software update?
The single player mode comes with 20 different level packs built in. Each pack comes with up to ten levels. You’ll want to start off by playing the tutorial mode. After that, you can dive into any of the level packs you think you are ready for. Each level pack falls into one of three categories: Easy, Medium, or Hard. For the first-time player, I’d recommend starting with the Easy levels as the game can be pretty challenging. If you start on a level that is too difficult, you might get frustrated and give up on the game, and that would be a shame because it has a lot to offer.
I have one minor gripe with the level packs: I don’t like that you have to complete the previous level before moving on to the next one. Once you beat a level pack, you can re-play the levels in any order. But you must first unlock a level by beating it. On the flip side, all of the level packs are available at the start, so it’s really a minor complaint.
The creativity that was put into designing these levels is a really nice touch. You will find walls, holes, magnets, cannons, fans, checkpoints, sliding doors and switches, and vacuum-like objects that decrease the size of the ball so it can fit into smaller spaces. Each level (and level pack, for that matter) feels unique.
If you play a level you have already completed, you’ll see two balls: the one you are controlling and a silhouette of another ball that is replicating your best time on this level. Think of it like trying to beat an instant replay of your previous best time. It’s a neat little addition that gives you incentive to replay the same levels over and over again.
Given the complexity and difficulty of the game, it will take you a while to finish all 20 level packs. But you’ll have a lot of fun trying. Once you do that (or even before, if you want to), you’ll want to check out:
DOWNLOAD LEVELS
When you enter into the Download Levels section, there are four options at the bottom: New, All levels, Top 25, and By ID. The New section will display the newest level packs that have been uploaded. You can further drill into this section by Newcomers, What’s hot, and Random.
All levels is just that: all of the created levels. This screen is divided into Easy, Medium, and Hard categories. I’m not sure how many created level packs there are, but it’s far, far too many to count.
The Top 25 section displays the top 25 level packs in three different categories: Rated, Downloaded, and Played. This is a nice section that allows you to find the cream of the crop of level packs, so to speak.
By ID allows you to search for levels by a specific author by using their ID. You get your ID when you go to create your first level pack (more on this later). This is useful if your buddy creates a level pack and wants you to be able to easily find it.
Each level pack has two options: touch to download (if you’ve already downloaded the level, the download icon becomes a "play" icon) or touch to preview. If you download it, you can play it right away. It will also be stored in the single player mode under downloaded levels. If you preview the level pack, you can preview it just like one of the standard packs. You can also touch the User ID button to see more levels by the author or report a concern.
There is one big quirk about the preview screen: at first glance, there appears to be no way to get back to the previous screen without downloading the level pack. If you look in the top left corner of the screen, there is an empty space. If you tap there, it will take you back to the previous screen. Consider it an invisible button. It was frustrating for a while because I would continuously have to exit the app in order to get back to the main menu. I hope this gets fixed in a future software update.
The Download levels section adds a level of replay value to this game that makes it feel almost console-worthy. If you enjoy this game, you will never grow bored with it because there are literally an infinite number of levels to play.
CREATE
This is the aspect of the game that amazed me the most. The create levels option in Labyrinth 2 is amazing for two reasons: it’s simple and it’s complex. Pardon the cliched oxymoron, if you will. But it’s true. It’s really easy to create your own level packs in this game. All of the options you see in the standard levels are at your disposal.
I tested the level creator in Safari and Firefox on my MacBook. Safari didn’t work too well, but Firefox worked flawlessly. You must create at least five levels in a pack in order for it to be published. After you are satisfied with your levels, load up the game on your iPhone, go to Create, and you there you will see your created level packs. You must first play through and beat your level pack before it can be published. This only makes sense as it will keep the download area free of levels that are literally impossible to beat.
One important note: there seems to be an issue with publishing created levels. As I am typing this now, I just tried to publish a simple level pack that I was going to reference in this review. The app wouldn’t let me, saying "An unknown error has occurred." I am not sure if this is an issue with just me or a service-wide issue. I hope it will be fixed soon.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Labyrinth 2 is easily the most complete and feature-rich game I have ever played on any mobile device. The amount of time one could spend on this game is mind-boggling given the downloaded area and the ability to create your own levels.
I haven’t talked much about the graphics/aesthetics of this game, mainly because that is hardly the focus. Still, you can tell there were many hours put into this game. Aside from the missing button that I mentioned above, the entire app is wonderfully put together. The menus are clean, simple, and easy to navigate. They don’t become a distraction at all or take away from the gameplay. To me, that is key in designing a good iPhone game.
Gameplay is simple, yet addicting. Challenging, yet rewarding. There was one level that must have taken me fifty times before I beat it. Once I did, I breathed a sigh of relief. Mind you, that was just one of the thousands of levels available at the tap of your finger.
I cannot recommend this game highly enough. I am actually a bit shocked that it only costs $4.99 considering how much there is to do in this game. Do yourself a favor and purchase this game. Just make sure you have a lot of time to kill.
Labyrinth 2 is available now in the App Store, priced at $4.99.
*** This app was independently purchased by Just Another iPhone Blog in the iPhone App Store for this review. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the "About" page.
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