RollOut Review

Simplicity with a side of mind-bending difficulty is often the heart of any puzzle game on the App Store. Some games soar to greatness with this philosophy at their heart. RollOut is looking to top the charts of puzzle solving greatness with a new take on challenging your noggin. Does RollOut succeed in this task, or is it sucking the scum off the bottom of the barrel?

RollOut is a puzzle game about making for the exit. Players are tasked with getting Wabba to the exit of each level. Wabba is not just going to sit around and wait, though. Wabba forms into a saw blade ball and proceeds to start rolling through the level. To bad Wabba can’t just cut his way to the exit.

The puzzle part comes in with getting Wabba’s pointy posterior to the exit. Jump arrows scroll across the stage. Players control these arrows to get this Sonic wannabe to the exit door. The complexity starts to rack up when the player realizes these jump arrows can only be moved to the left. Wabba starts on the ground floor and it is up to players to jump him to an exit door strategically placed somewhere way above his starting position.

While this all sounds rough enough, there is yet even more complexity to throw into the mix. Sometimes an elevator is necessary to get to higher ground. Landing on it will stop Wabba just long enough to get to the next level. Wabba can also fall all the way back down to the starting position. Adding into these levels of heck are areas where the jumping signs won’t work.

Oh yeah, there is one last touch to round out those 50 levels of insanity-inducing game play. Jump signs, elevators, and control voids may all sound feeble and weak in comparison. One last thing to consider: not all jump signs are the same. Some will make Wabba race faster, others will pause, and some will even slow down the action. Whew.

RollOut may notch up the puzzle complexity, but it sure skips the visual eye candy. About the only colors that ever come into play here are fundamental primary colors in the control signs. Some different backgrounds would have really upped the ante on the presentation side.

Overall, RollOut is a sadistic take on puzzle platforming. Fifty levels, trophy support, and simple game play make this worthy of being on that iPhone. Just don’t be surprised when your broken blood vessels kick in at the higher levels.

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