Platform running games are quite repetitive in nature and don’t offer too much variety in gameplay. Nevertheless, their fast paced action gives you a huge head rush that keeps you coming back for more. Manuganu belongs to this genre and features all the essential ingredients you’ll find in a platform runner game; speed running, double jumping, coin collecting, multi-path platforming, and physics-based gaming. We take the game for a spin to find out how the action in Manuganu plays out and if its got what it takes to impress Android gamers.
Plentiful Action Right From The Word Go
The game starts off with little Indian boy Manuganu running across a beautiful lush green countryside picking up blue coins and golden medallions along the way to the finish line. The run, as expected is not smooth. There are swinging hammers, spiky rocks, steaming hot fireballs, big hungry monsters, and other booby traps that hamper his progress. Once you start the game, Manuganu starts running in auto-mode and your initial controls only require you to hit the green arrow button at the bottom right of the screen to jump over obstacles and collect blue coins. As you progress through the game, a little pink question mark introduces you to other controls. For instance a red cross mark lets you halt Manuganu’s run and this is mighty helpful when you run into big swinging hammers. To avoid spiky rocks or get past narrow crevices, you are introduced to the slide control, which lets you swipe down the screen to get Manuganu past a narrow escape path.
The platform landscape changes as you go through different stages of the game. There are rugged terrains, deep gorges, tricky rock formations, perilous cliffs, ice beds, and more. Long tree trunks and misshaped bones sometimes serve as bridges between two land masses making the path quite tricky to traverse. In some instances, the only way to get across the terrain is to swing over a rope. Big red spotted mushrooms add to the exciting action by high-flying the little fellow at greater speeds than usual.
There are also little arrow signs along the path that indicate the directions that Manuganu can take. This additional level of complexity means you can take alternate routes to your destination and is the deciding factor for picking up stars. Stars are credits you pick up on game completion. You earn a single star for reaching the finish line, a double star for picking up a certain number of blue coins, and three stars for completing the game without taking a hit. With its simple controls and all, Manuganu might look like a pretty easy game to play, but it really is quite challenging. You tend to run into the swinging hammers more often than not, miss jumps, get spiked and jump right into the jaws of monster creatures. Luckily you have three lives in each level, so you can restart from where you got hit, rather than start the level all over again.
The Enjoyability Factor
All it takes for Manuganu to impress you is a few minutes of gameplay. You will soon find yourself immersed neck deep in the action. One of the cool things about Manuganu is that it has a high replay-ability factor. You simply feel compelled to come back and beat your own scores. Another factor that makes this game so enjoyable is the ability to take alternate routes. Each route has its own obstacles and challenges, therefore you don’t feel like you’re replaying the game over and over again. In fact, the fun factor of Manuganu is so high that you sometimes find yourself ooh-aahhing along with the Indian boy when he hits an obstacle, misses a platform or plunges into the depths below. Manuganu is hilariously good when you play it along with a bunch of friends. In fact, you will even wish were more levels to play when you’re done with the three worlds and 30 levels of gameplay.
Graphics, Animation & Music
Every aspect of Manuganu is impressively designed. The colorful backgrounds, ancient artwork, and 3D graphics are captivating. The animation effects are solid giving you an impression of being part of the action. Whether its is the swooshing sound of Manuganu sliding under a crevice, the trudging of heavy feet in the snow, or the resurrection of Manuganu’s spirit when he perishes, the sound effects have been acutely captured offering a more wholesome gaming experience. The music, though is a slight letdown and tends to get annoying after a few rounds into the game. It could certainly do with some improvements, but it’s definitely not a big negative factor.
The Verdict
Manuganu is a jewel in the crown of platform runner games. Awesome, fun, entertaining, delightful, addictive, dynamic, beautiful… well I’m running out of adjectives to describe the game, but you get the picture. It is available for free in the Play Store, just hit the download button to get it. And be sure to come back and tell us how much you enjoyed it.
