Run Roo Run Review – Don’t judge a game by its first chapter

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By: 5TH Cell Media LLC

Version #: 1.0.0

Date Released: 2012-01-12

Developer: 5TH Cell Media LLC

Price: 0.99

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Don’t be turned off by the apparent lack of difficulty of Run Roo Run, a recently released game for the iPhone. (An HD version for the iPad is sold separately.) Trying out the game for the first time by playing the first few levels, you might be tempted to dismiss it as a for-kids-only game, what with its apparent simplicity and a combination of colorful graphics and cute game character to boot. But my advice is, give it a chance, and you’ll see soon enough why it has made its way up the App Store charts.

Developed by none other than the makers of Scribblenauts, Run Roo Run sees a mother kangaroo on a quest to rescue her beloved joey, who was captured by hunters intent on selling the baby kangaroo to a zoo in Sydney. From their habitat in Perth, Roo must then run and traverse the Australian outback lest she never see her joey again.

In the game, Roo’s journey covers a total of 20 chapters, each containing 15 regular levels and 6 extreme levels, which can be played only after completing the regular ones. Each level is single-screen, meaning all elements relevant to the level are confined in only one frame, with Roo starting from the left and going toward the finish line on the right. In this way Run Roo Run may be considered a mini-platformer game.

To make your way through the first chapter you need only master the game’s single-touch gameplay: tap anywhere on your device’s screen to make Roo jump while she’s on the move. It is here in the first chapter where you’re likely to deem the game terribly undemanding, feel bored, and think of ditching the game altogether. But if you heed my advice, you’ll discover that there are game enchancements laid out along the way to keep the player engaged, as each chapter introduces a new contraption or method of helping Roo make her way around the obstacles she encounters.

Here’s a partial roll call of such enhancements: double-jump and gravity-reversal power-ups, propellant rubber tires and cannons, rideable clouds and umbrellas, and even oncoming birds you can hop on. At times new sorts of obstacles appear with the beginning of each new chapter, such as road spikes and—get this—Roo rendered nearly totally invisible.

And just when you thought you’re close to rescuing Roo’s joey, having finished all the regular levels of each of the 20 chapters, you find out that you’re actually required to also finish all the extreme levels! Mind you, they’re not called extreme for nothing. But fret not: when stuck in a particularly tricky level, you can use one of your two free Instantly Beat Level Bus or two free Slow Motion Help tokens. (Additional tokens are available in the in-app store.) Now who says Run Roo Run is just for kids?