Demolicious Review

Lots of people define "fun" in many different ways. Some like to shoot stuff, others enjoy matching colored blocks and more than a few love flailing their arms in front of a camera. Different strokes and all that, but some things are universal. Like loot-hoarding, getting three-star rankings and just about anything involving physics. Enter Demolicious, an iOS game that has two out of three of those aspects covered.

The point to each level in Demolicious is to destroy all of the crates. By firing cannon balls at them. I know, right? But what begins as a matter of point-and-shoot soon gets more complicated as players will have to plan bank shots and strategically shoot out support beams. Some levels utilize multiple cannons, so figuring out which is the best angle for a plan of attack is also key. And as expected, the fewer shots taken the better the chances of getting three stars. Things won't always go as planned, but when everything finally comes together it can be incredibly satisfying mayhem.

There's just something about physics puzzlers, and Demolicious is no exception. The levels can get pretty wacky and start to incorporate exploding crates, crushing boulders and more. It can be tough to figure out the best way to approach a given problem but there's no penalty for multiple attempts. And I have to say taking down all of those smug containers with a single shot, then watching the replay from multiple angles, is always an awesome feeling.

I can't say I'm particularly crazy about Demolicious' visuals, but they get the job done. Likewise, the repetitious music isn't bad but could do with a little more variety. But that's all superficial stuff. My one more legitimate gripe is that the physics don't feel entirely accurate at times. It mostly has to do with trying to bounce a cannon ball off of an obstacle at a specific angle. It never seems to ricochet in the direction I think it will. Nothing a little trial-and-error can't work around, but it's noticeable.

As someone who used to love knocking down carefully constructed "buildings" in games like Boom Blox, I didn't have a hard time getting into Demolicious. It's just one of "those games" that kind of speaks to everyone. It could use a little refinement (I mean what game couldn't?), but it's definitely a fun little iOS distraction.