Safari! HD is a Great Twist on the Classic Match Game
by Toni McQuilken
Jul 20, 2011 7:33 AM –
Install
Safari! HD. This is the new addictive time killer for Android. Your aim is to connect as much matching animals as possible. But you can only connect neighbor animals. Just swipe your finger across matching neighboring animals to connect them. Longer chains give more points!
Price: Free, ~$1.41
Tested on: MyTouch 3G Slide, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Highly addictive gameplay!
- Cute graphics!
- Both a standard and HD version, both paid and lite!
- OpenFeint support!
Cons
- I’d like to see more challenges.
Features:
When I first downloaded Safari! HD, I put it on my phone, thinking it looked enough like bejeweled-style games to be interesting. I played it for a bit on my phone, and discovered that while it works just fine, I wanted to see it bigger. So I switched to playing it on the tablet, and several hours later, came back up for air. 
This is a very fun game, with three different modes. Survivor is the first, and features a mode most gamers will be familiar with. Time is running out slowly, and you have to make as many and as large of combos as you can. Larger combos will extend your time, and as you go along, additional animals are added, increasing the challenge. In Time Attack, you have exactly 100 seconds to make as many combos as you can. There’s no additional time added for combos, you just have to try and match as many animals as you can. And the Endless mode is exactly what it sounds like – there is no time limit, you play until you hit the exit button, at which point you’re given your score for the session.
The game has OpenFeint support, which means you can see how your high scores fare against other players, but it also means there are achievements to unlock. If you like to earn trophies and have the “gotta catch ‘em all” mentality, this will add an extra element of fun to the game, giving you something else to work toward. Especially since some of the challenges are marked “secret” until you earn them, making it all that much more difficult to figure out how to earn them.
Another thing I’m incredibly impressed with is that the developers created both a standard and HD version, to increase the chance of compatibility with as wide a range of devices as possible. The HD version looked great on both my devices, and ran without a hitch. Both versions also both come in lite and paid flavors, so everyone can try it out and see what it will look like on their device before they purchase.
My one and only complaint… I wanted more challenge. Monkeys are added to the game as you get further into all of the modes, but I found myself wishing there were more animals being added as I went on to add to the challenge, especially in Endless mode. I also did find that it took a bit of time to get the technique down perfect to hit all the tiles I wanted to match each time. On the phone, this was a bit harder because of the smaller screen, but on the tablet, I found the technique a lot easier to pick up quickly.
Watch on Mobile
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Safari HD Main
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Safari HD Time Attack
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Safari HD Survivor
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Safari HD Endless
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Safari HD Achievements
Fun Factor:
Thumbs up for the kiddies to improve their mental match abilities. The game is a lot of fun, and if you like match-type games, you’ll really enjoy this one. Instead of just matching in rows or columns, you can create long strings of animals as long as they’re touching each other. This adds a bit of strategy too, trying to plan moves several steps ahead to get the biggest combos possible.
Addictive:
I opened the game thinking I’d just try it out then go to bed. It was several hours and long after midnight when I looked up again, so that should tell you how addictive it is. The game takes the basic match game concept and adds a strategic element, along with the different modes, for a wide range of gameplay types to keep it interesting.
Graphics:
The main game tiles are all cute depictions of various African safari animals, like lions and hippos. Each animal also has a different colored background to its tile, making it easier to identify them for fast matching.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
There is a nice “safari-like” background music to the game. It’s not overly intrusive or annoying, unlike some game music I could name.