Love is the inspiration for many things; endless runners included. When mysterious monsters kidnap his girl, Dino Boy is forced to don his rescue gear, a weird looking dinosaur suit and helmet, and set off on an endless run to destroy the monsters and rescue his sweetheart. The game has an instant appeal with colorful landscapes, jaunty music, and plenty of costumes, items and power ups to enliven your journey. But will this be another how-far-can-you-get-before-you-start-all-over-again type of game, or will it offer a justified and interesting result at the end of the journey? Let’s find out.
Before you get started, you have a few options before you. You can login to Facebook to play with friends and compare scores. If you wish to play solo, you can try the tutorial, which at the moment seems to be stuck in an endless loop. Next you choose between button based controls and tilt controls. I’d go with the tilts as they work really smooth and are much better to manage when dealing with the many interactive elements of the game. Next, hit Play.
Of Speedy Runs, Mega Monsters & Fiery Fireballs
Dino Boy Rush initially starts off on an easy pace settling you into the game, before it picks up momentum. The tilt controls let you maneuver Dino Boy to the left and right lanes, but there are also a couple of virtual buttons that help you dodge obstacles along the way. Use the left button to jump or double jump objects and the right button to slide under objects or head butt monsters and bombs. The running platform is littered with alphabets, red and gold stars, bombs, monsters, houses, hurdles, laser beams, razor-sharp stones, wooden blocks and more. Since your run is in auto-mode, all you need to do is avoid the obstacles and pick up as many stars and alphabets as you can. At the end of the first platform, you meet the Big Boss, an octopussy-styled mega monster who spews minions and other obstacles while moving back and forth. Once the big boss battle is over, you are transformed into another platform and the process repeated.
As you progress through the game, you meet more dangers, run at faster speeds, and deal with new obstacles that seem to come on to you much faster, inevitably leaving you with a feeling that the game is designed to ensure you don’t get too far, no matter how good your skills are. You can take comfort from the fact that there are plenty of power ups to keep you happily distracted. Coin loving magnets, extra lives, flying wings, mega sizes, fiery fireballs, invincibility and more. You can also pick up items such as gas masks, glasses, (to highlight missing game letters) helmets, (to head-butt everything that gets in the way) and extra lives in exchange for stars. Not to mention some cool outfits including a Dodgy Fox, a rushing moose, a hadrosaurs, and more. All these elements definitely add variety and glamour to the game.
The Ooohs and the Aaahs
Dino Boy Rush excels in the graphics and animation departments. The visuals are pleasing and the animations smooth, although the virtual buttons could have been better placed. Sitting at the bottom of the screen, it leaves you at a slight disadvantage making you hit empty spaces more often than you like. The tilt controls work flawlessly and I’m super glad the developers got that right because there’s nothing more frustrating than half-hearted responsiveness. The music,set at a jolly and lively pace amply complements the game.
Having got most of the essentials right, Dino Boy Rush, falters in one single aspect. There is no foreseeable goal accomlishment. Despite completing the Boss Battles, you are nowhere close to finding your sweetheart and the objects you pick up along the way don’t offer any clues either. You can touch top scores and travel many many meters but once you lose your three lives, you get right back to the start. This rinse and repeat action starts to wear you out after awhile. Dino Rush Boy would have my vote if it really showed itself to be progressive, but alas it falters there taking away much of its enjoy-ability and replay-ability points.
Nevertheless, Dino Boy Rush is not a game you can ignore. It is free to download, there are no annoying pop up ads to disturb gameplay, the IAPs are completely optional, and there are plenty of social bragging points to be scored; enough goodwill to keep fans of the genre pretty happy.
