Scorched Monster Review

What could be more satisfying than running around lush and varied environments setting every monster encountered ablaze? In short, not much. Scorched Monster is a retro inspired title with gorgeous 8-bit graphics in which players do just that. This is a simple game that draws heavily on the rich history of retro platforming games and does so in a way that works really well on the iPhone. The controls are simple and manageable and the gameplay is compact, well paced, and perfectly portioned for the platform.

In Scorched Monster, players take control of a little flame thrower-toting hero, then run and jump him all over each stage in search of monsters to incinerate. These incinerations happen automatically as the character nears any monster, making the game more about quickly navigating the environments than it is about timing attacks. In each level, the player has to achieve a certain score level by scorching enough monsters before the timer runs down. While jumping up and down from level to level on each stage, the player will also have to avoid randomly appearing spikes that will damage them. If the player loses all their hearts or if time runs out before the goal score is achieved, the level has to be restarted. There are various power-ups to help the player out in each level like screen clearing TNT bombs and time extending clocks.

The controls in Scorched Monster are superb. Players will always feel in complete control of the game and won't often find themselves running off ledges or jumping when they don't intend to do so. The 8-bit graphics perfectly emulate the treasured games of days gone by and the various environments and characters keep the game fresh. Each level only take a minute or two to clear, making for a very bite-sized gameplay which is perfect for mobile consumption. Players should take notice of this enjoyable little title and give it a try.