Falling Balls for iPhone is Everything A Mobile Game Should Be
By: Hillel Fuld
What Ford did to the automobile market, one can say, Apple did to the mobile industry. Most mobile experts will agree that Apple made the biggest shift in the market since the invention of the mobile phone. It revolutionized the market on so many levels, and if using the iPhone is not enough proof of that, take a look at the iPhone competitors out there, and tell me they are not trying to mimic Apple’s work. Just the other day, a close friend, who also happens to be an international mobile expert tweeted “Watching the Nexus One video, and all I see is an iPhone”.
This point can be debated and there are some very obvious advantages to the Android platform, as well as others, but that does not change the fact that Apple’s user experience is unprecedented. This is proven time and time again, when you watch little kids playing with iPhones. You will notice that within seconds of picking up an iPhone for the first time, they are good to go. Try the same experiment with a Symbian phone, just take into account, you might have to pay for the kid’s therapy as a result.
Among the many ways the iPhone changed the market, is of course its abundance of apps. Like the commercials say, there is an app for pretty much anything. To me though, as amazing as over 100,000 apps are, the really big shocker is the kinds of apps I encounter, and even more than that, how successful they are. I do not need to think hard to give examples of apps you would never imagine would do well, yet, somehow the developers, are now living a totally different life than before they released their app. iFart is one example that comes to mind. I am embarrassed to even mention it, but how could I not? As the story goes, iFart made its developer over $400k in two weeks.
Falling Balls is another such example. The concept is too simple to be called simple, Balls are falling and you, a tiny stick figure, need to avoid them. I could pretty much end the review here, since that is truly all there is to the app, but then I would be missing the part of Falling Balls being among the most downloaded apps for months.
It is a free app, so the developer is not going to be rich from it, but I could think of many other benefits you can get from millions of downloads of an app you developed. I am no developer, but I cannot imagine it took too long to develop Falling Balls, but the game still manages to capture its audience. I personally use the app to show people who have never used an iPhone, how truly amazing it is. I mean, yes, I can use many other apps for this, but people like simple and they like immediate. This app shows off the iPhone’s sensitive accelerometer, and it shows off how truly entertaining the iPhone can be as a gaming platform.
At the end of the day, such an app might also work on other mobile platforms, but from my experience, maybe with the exception of a very fast Android phone, the experience would just not be the same.
As for the game itself, like I said, you need to tilt the device in order to avoid the falling balls, and when a ball hits you, the device makes a screaming noise and splatters blood all over the place. Not sure you want your kid playing this, although my kids love it. (kidding, or not. Guess you’ll never know).
The game has three modes: Classic, Advanced, and Ninja with each mode throwing the balls at different speeds and intervals. The game definitely gets very difficult after a few seconds, and will keep you entertained while you play. Everything about this app is simple, including the game, the interface, and the menus. You can choose to clear your scores, turn off sound (not recommended), and choose your mode, that’s it.
There is a reason this app is so popular with iPhone users. It has, in my opinion, every factor a successful mobile game should have. It is entertaining, easy to use, and will not let you put it down without a fight.
Our Rating: 4/5
Developer: bit101
