Bumbee – Unique & Challenging game, easy to play & tough to conquer!
by Antonio Wells
Mar 2, 2012 8:14 AM –
Install
Bumbee, is a cute yet angry mama bee and the story goes… her baby bees were stolen by a snotty kid, frozen and spread throughout the yard. You must help Bumbee find all her kiddies while flying through endless levels, of course garnering the high score to compare on OpenFeint social network; plus you can earn or buy power-ups. It is easy to play yet difficult to master, let’s delve more into the review!
Price: Free, In-app Purchases
Tested on: LG Nitro HD, DROID Bionic, Nexus One
Content Rating: Low Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Unique and challenging game that is easy to play and tough to conquer!
- Many levels, power-ups, and quests to achieve!
Cons
- The game is a little too tough to play. It seems there is more incentive geared towards purchasing in-app level-ups rather than earning them.
- Overall the graphics are good, but I noticed some glitches in them loading on time… this was evident on 3 different phones!
Features:
Brought to you by the same makers of Turbo Grannies, Imperio Game Studios are back at it again with another unique title called Bumbee. Your objective is to help Bumbee find her babies, flying the farthest, collect coins and top the online leaderboards. You do this by flying through an endless level to collect the babes that are frozen in an ice cube, glide into it to unlock the babes and they’ll follow you. Albeit, adding them slows you down but have the benefit of multiplying your coins; get six or more kiddies and you’ll earn a “Head Start” for the next level.
It’s said to have thousands of levels, 200 quests, you can collect or buy costumes, and you get a new level every three 3 hours as to not memorize the level.
To fly is simple, yet very tricky, as you tap/hold the screen to lift her in flight… then let go to descend. It gets harder as you collect more babies on her virtual leash as they will create drag and weigh her flight down, making for a slower and less agile flight. You must also remember getting to the end of the level (change in scenery) is on a timer, so if you’re flying too slow time will run out on you. Bumbee must suffer from a severe case of narcolepsy as she just drops, mid-air, and catches some Z’s if you run out of time. Then you must start the level all the way from the beginning.
I must admit my frustration with the game as I attempted literally a hundred times to beat the first triad of a quest-level to no success. It seems the developers have gone that route of nudging you to buy (with real cash) power-ups to gain an edge to get to the next level. This is sad, as playing well and/or with strategy means nothing within the game- dismissing a key factor in game design principles… the satisfaction of feeling rewarded. Instead, you must slap down some cash to get anywhere fast. 
Speaking of the power-ups, here is a reference of the items within the game that will help you fly farther… besides cash:
- Coins – every time you play you earn coins.
- Level up – your earned coins can be used in the shop to level up.
- Babees – rescue the frozen babees for coin multiplier.
- Power ups – magnets help you attract more coins, speed boost, freeze time.
- Quests – earn coins by completing quests.
- Head start – collect 6 or more babees & gain head starts for the next level.
- Fairydust – fairydust will increase your current level by one.
Watch on Mobile
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Bumbee Gameplay 1
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Bumbee Gameplay 2
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Bumbee Gameplay 3
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Bumbee Gameplay 4
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Bumbee Gameplay 5
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Bumbee Gameplay 6
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Bumbee Gameplay 7
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Bumbee Gameplay 8
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Bumbee Gameplay 9
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Bumbee Gameplay 10
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Bumbee Gameplay 11
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Bumbee Gameplay 12
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Bumbee Gameplay 13
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Bumbee Gameplay 14
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Bumbee Gameplay 15
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Bumbee Gameplay 16
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Bumbee Gameplay 17
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Bumbee Head Start
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Bumbee End of Level
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Bumbee End of Level Bonus
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Bumbee High Scores
Fun Factor:
I would say Bumbee is more challenge than fun, as it’s easy to pick up and play yet nearly impossible to master without some monetary investment into the game. This is what hinders it from being really fun.
I even tried a strategy of playing the first round with the goal of getting a head start by collecting six babies, then eventually lose due to flying too slow from the added weight and get a ‘time up.’ Then start the next round with a head start and still run out of time.
Addictive:
The game is mostly addictive, in that you strive to concentrate and challenge yourself to get higher scores, longer flights, tow the most babes, gain power-ups and make it to the next level. There’s a slight added incentive by comparing your high scores to others on OpenFeint.
Graphics:
The graphics are good, kind of 3D and 2D parallax environment going on. The levels are filled with enlarged earthy elements like tree branches to dodge, floating lawn patches, mushrooms to bounce off, and missing boxes or haystacks. What I thought initially was a glitch turned out to be a cool visual cue, when you glide into a baby bee or power-up, the whole world shakes.
One gripe I noticed in the game was on every phone I tested on the graphics in the bottom right corner seem to render in late (you can see this evident in the screenshots above… look at the missing grass patches in the bottom right). It became really visible in the barn, whereas, the barn’s background on the right panel showed up late and you could see the background scenery outside. Not a huge deal, but an over-sight on the game’s polish.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
Bumbee has great sound effects with little buzzing bee sounds and coin chimes. The background loop is good yet repetitive.