It’s been over two years since Temple Run first hit the App Store and everyone went ga-ga over this new style of gameplay. Pretty soon, every dev was making an endless runner, whether it was Subway Surfers, Angry Granny Run or Agent Dash.
This isn’t Gameloft’s first endless runner — Despicable Me: Minion Rush is quite a hit — and I suspect it won’t be the company’s last. But if there’s one thing that the new Danger Dash tells us, it’s that there’s nothing new to bring to the world of endless runners now, and perhaps this genre has hit a wall.
Been There, Done That
There is a strong sense of deja vu when playing Danger Dash, and that feeling never goes away. It’s got the same premise as all those other runners, where your protagonist is running for his life, chased by an enemy — in this case, a streak of tigers.
Unlike Temple Run and other games that are controlled by the accelerometer, Danger Dash takes its cues from the likes of Subway Surfers, where it’s all about swipes. In essence, there are three pathways to the screen: left, right and center. Swipe towards the left or right to change your pathway, swipe up to jump and swipe down to slide.
There are a series of coins and other powerups in your path, and your job is to collect as many of them as possible, while avoiding obstacles. The coins can be used between levels to power up your different skills, such as increasing the value of coins or introducing moneybags.
You play as Chuck Ace, an adventurer who bears a resemblance to the Temple Run protagonist. Collect enough gems through the games and you can unlock two other characters: Miranda Rose or Blowing Wind.
Do a good enough job and grab the right boxes, and you will invoke the power to transform into a tiger. I’ve done it thrice now, and I still have no idea what exactly activates that power, but it gives you a small boost window where you go faster than before and looking cool doing it.
In terms of graphics and sound, Danger Dash does not try to do anything new or different. The level design again invokes that sense of deja vu, while the sound effects will make you yawn.
Overall, it’s simple, it works exactly as advertised, and there is absolutely nothing in Danger Dash that you haven’t seen before.
What’s The Point Of This Game?
It’s difficult to figure out why Gameloft made this game at all. It’s not innovative, it doesn’t have gorgeous graphics, its gameplay is a complete rip-off of what’s already in existing apps, and to top it all, it takes a long time to load.
There is no reason whatsoever for you to download Danger Dash to your phone, even though it’s free. If you’ve played Subway Surfers or any other endless runner, you have probably unlocked enough features on it to be having more fun than starting over with a game that brings nothing new or enjoyable to the table.
