Movies and games are certainly a match made in heaven – for Android fans at least. Gameloft continues to play matchmaker bringing the magic of the movies to the small screen, this time, in the form of some whacky minions and their mighty master Gru! Yes, It’s the heroes of the smash hit movie Despicable Me and in the promotion to the upcoming sequel, they compete with each other to win the coveted Minion of the Year award. This movie tie-in indulges every endless runner fan with plenty of crazy fast paced action, tiresome obstacles, ridiculous power ups, silly costumes and non-stop mayhem.
There’s Nothing Despicable About It!
There’s almost a carnival like excitement in the air as Master Gru launches the Minion of the year award in his blue-tinged industrial workplace. Only one little yellow critter can win it. And your job is to help him run, slide, fly, and jump across dangerous platforms, knock off fellow competitors, pick up game currency, earn Gru tokens and fight the big boss Vector to grab the shiny award.
This franticly paced game is set in a Gru lab where a three lane conveyor belt-styled platform throws up some crazy obstacles such as speeding bombs, fiery lasers, protruding pipes and electrically charged flags. While managing to dodge these obstacles, you pick up in-game currency in the form of bananas and tokens, complete some crazy missions and finally fight the big boss Vector who sends his own set of minions after you!
What makes Minion Rush a standout from other games of the genre is the wide variety of action sequences you can perform while running. Certain sections of the platform are motion controlled, and you will suddenly find yourself tilting your device to control the minion. Trampolines, speed lanes, Fluffy Unicorns and Rocket powerups will propel you through the air, and your fellow minions will also join in, with some circus-styled swings and somersaults to fling you over to other platforms. Another innovative feature of the game is the brilliant integration of different camera angles in between game play leaving you heading straight into a rocket head one moment and watching yourself leap across obstacles from a side angle the next. While this appears a little tricky at first, you soon enjoy the interactivity and cleverness of game play.
Boss battles at the end of a platform provides a truly satisfying finish to a run. Again, they are unique, played from a different camera angle and terribly tough. Tough because switching lanes during battles are not as smooth as you’d want it to be; you don’t get an extra life or two (without dishing out some currency) and you don’t get enough bulleted minions to strike the villain back, leaving you to die many brave deaths before eventually prevailing.
High Five to the Extras
Minion Rush offers plenty of additional gizmos and glitterati to keep the game lively and addictive. Golden bananas that double in currency, invincibility shields, freeze rays, banana vacuums, banana splitters, minion launchers, mega minions, and ludicrous costumes are just some of the tantalizing elements that you’ll want to explore and indulge throughout the game.
Something’s Despicable After All- IAPs
All this thrilling gameplay however comes at a price. In the form of In App Purchases. Gameloft expressly warns you at the start of the game about their IAP policy, so if you are wise, you will lock down your credit cards. That’s because at every conceivable opportunity the game teases you with some cool offers, power ups and upgrades that cannot be obtained just using the in game currency. And there’s only so much temptation a person can resist.
The Verdict
IAPs or not, Minion Rush has too many good elements to its credit that makes it a must have game in every players collection. The delightful gibberish chatter of the minions, their sheepish grins when meeting their demise, the dramatic changes in the pace of the game, the unexpected twists and turns of the playing angles, funny animations, awesome graphics, plentiful power ups, social gaming, and the infectious excitement of the minions lures you into playing just a little more until you’ve lost track of time.
If you have tired yourself of endless platformers and believe that there is nothing more the genre can offer, you’ve got to pick up Minion Rush. It’s a feast for the senses, a breath of freshness for an overworked genre and a hearty and delightful game that will charm, tease, test and make you fall in love with endless platformers all over again.
