Canabalt – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Canabalt
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2009-10-01
Developer: Darrel Johnson
Price: 2.99
User Rating:
Loading...
Philip James Bailey once said that "Simplicity is nature’s first step, and the last of art."
I have no idea what that means, but it does sound like it sums up the greatness that is "Canabalt," assuming that the saying means that the best art is created by the simplest means.
Give me a break. I’m not a literature professor. I review iPhone apps for a living. The most knowledge I’m required to have over the English language is if I can find the "q" key on the keyboard.
The entire game works on one button, which may sounds ridiculously simple except the world that it draws you into is very deep, alarming and almost beautiful. And this is from a game with the graphics capacity of an 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System.
It’s a sidescrolling, run and jump that features a dark, lone man run across the rooftops of a crumbling city. From what, we’re never told but the action is so fast that it becomes quite addictive. You’re not just jumping over randomly placed boxes and office chairs or through giant windows, but you’re also running from buildings that fall beneath your feet, over innocous bombs that explode when you run into them and even large metallic objects that knock entire buildings down with one punch.
The action is coupled in front of a grim post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with smoking buildings and futuristic planes that zoom across the screen to divert your attention from your impending doom. And here’s the most interesting part: it never ends. You just keep running and running from some imaginary, unstoppable force trying to get the largest distance before you fall to your inevitable doom.
"Canabalt" is really the first web-based game and even iPhone game that scores high on playability and artistic creation in the same ardent stride.
Quick Take
Value:You can't put a price on perfection.
Would I Buy Again:If it's just as addictive the first go-around.
Learning Curve:If you have at least one finger, you can learn to play it on the first try.
Who Is It For:People who like running from things whether they be achieving a greater sense of discipline at the sacrifice of comfort or post-apocalyptic kill bots.
What I Like:It's incredibly simple to play but amazingly detailed to watch.
What I Don't Like:The fact that I can't think of anything that I don't like about it.
Final Statement:If Apple starts handing out awards for the Best Apps, first, come up with a better name than "The Appys" and second, give these guys the award for "Best Game."
