Super Circle Jump is an endless platformer that is deceptively simple and wonderfully addictive.
I love my iPhone. As a modern mobile device, my magic rectangle computer is able to run applications that fit any situation. If I have a few hours of spare time (a rare event), I can open a classic role-playing or board game for an engaging solo experience. If I am on a lunch break, I usually have enough time to catch up on some asynchronous gameplay by sending a few chess moves or new lap times to opponents listed in Game Center. Super Circle Jump falls into what I believe is the most common group of mobile games: those that may allow for very quick gameplay to fill in small gaps of free time, but reveal their depth once enough time is spent with them.
The game’s objective is a challenge echoed by many other games but a challenge that no one can quite walk away from: “How long can you last?”
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The player is tasked to tap the screen to carefully maneuver a small white circle from one set of colored concentric target circles to another. From the very first tap, the white circle begins to rotate around the starting circle at a moderate pace. It does not take very long to notice that the circles themselves act as a kind of timer in that the longer the player waits, less time they will have to time their jump. With each successful jump, the player seeming climbs higher towards new color patterns and new obstacles.
With enough skill, players will find red circles that increase the speed of rotation, blue single-layer circles that leave very little room for error, and even certain target circles that are not fixed in one location. Since a single missed jump results in a Game Over, these obstacles are sure to take a little getting used to. Three difficulty levels are present to test even the best reflexes. Game Center challenges and Leaderboard systems are available for bragging rights. Players also have the option of connecting a Facebook account if they prefer that avenue of social gaming contact.
Super Circle Jump offers some great visual feedback with some simple, bright images and a decent gameplay speed. There are some areas that could improve speed wise, as Game Center achievements or the pre-loading of an ad seem to hitch up the game just enough in order to cause the player to lose their rhythm. A few of the more involved graphic effects such as a player death combined with multiple target circles on-screen also seemed to cause the game to skip a few frames here and there. A rock solid game speed and no in-game interruptions are essential for a game like this.
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Game has a very simple set of effective sound effects and offers a slightly changing music track that seems to fit the in-game action pretty well. I would have liked a longer loop of the background music, however, as there are times that the music stops and may take a second or two to restart. Be prepared, as hearing this unintended loss of background music may cause a loss of focus during the first few occurrences. I would have liked the ability to switch background music tracks between attempts.
The game offers a single in-app purchase that allows removal of the advertisements. Advertisements seem to currently be set to appear every 3-5 attempts. Since this game can sometimes have some very short attempts, it won’t take long for an advertisement to scroll onto the screen directly in the path of the player’s intended tap to start the next attempt. The placement of the ads can make things frustrating, but at least the price ($1.99) is more than fair for the in-app purchase. The developer seems to be taking a risky stance into annoying the player into caving in to the temptation of “going premium”
Super Circle Jump is a fun game and a worthwhile purchase. The “one more game” factor is strong here and I have every confidence in the developer ironing out a few kinks in an otherwise excellent download. I am happy to say that this game earned my in-app purchase and I believe your own time with this game will be well spent.
DOWNLOAD – Super Circle Jump – FREE – iOS
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