Aloha - The Game Review

Penguins who wanna escape to Hawaii. Who would have thought? Will a penguin even cope in the hot mid-Pacific islands? All will be revealed when Annie, Bob, Max and Ziggy finally get there, but it’s in the player’s hands to get them to their destination as quickly and safely as possible.

Aloha - The Game is a quirky little runner/platformer hybrid featuring four of the cutest penguins one will ever lay eyes on. Max, Annie, Bob, and Ziggy want to escape their dull life in the South Pole, but it’s not as easy as it may seem. However, these are no ordinary everyday penguins, as all four of them have their own set of special moves that can be used to the player's advantage throughout three wonderful continents.

Controlling the penguins is as simple as tapping the right screen button to jump - twice to double jump - and the left screen button to switch at the right time. The game features a smart introductory tutorial after which it is down to the player to hop, skid, dive, and roll over a series of obstacles in order to complete each part of their journey. Unfortunately there are some happy-snappy crabs and bloodthirsty vultures right on their tail, and one wrong move or stumble means they’ll be adding penguin on the menu for supper.

The gameplay is hugely intuitive, and it’s not difficult to figure out how the interface works. Along the way it’ll become apparent that there are certain tricks to gain an advantage throughout the levels, such as learning that jumping on the sea lions will make the penguins bounce much higher than usual, and quite possibly earn some extra stars and points along the way. Further still, sliding over a "special move" beacon and making sure to switch to another penguin at the right time will also earn more points.

Hawaiian music is all the rage in this game, and the catchy loop of Hawaiian guitar sets the tone nicely for its fast-paced and engaging gameplay. Another great asset to the game is the ability to unlock an endless mode as a reward for earning three stars in each world. This packs Aloha with tons more replay value - which speaks volumes for a game that was free in the first place.

As someone who loves penguins and platform games, I couldn’t recommend this more. It’s a good, solid, fun game with eye-catching graphics and some amusing cutscenes, and each penguin has a charm of its very own. If anything, the kids will love it.