Twisted Circus is a wild & zany ride of a ‘run and jump’ game
by Toni McQuilken
Jun 19, 2012 3:55 PM –
Install
Twisted Circus is a wild ride not typical of your usual run & jump game. In this title you avoid pitfalls, grab coins, unlock achievements all while moving in a curved path of sporadic directions making for more complex challenge.
Price: Free
Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- A different take on the traditional “race” or “jump” style of game!
- Cute cartoon graphics and characters!
- Different characters to unlock or purchase!
- It’s a Papaya game, so you get access to that network of friends and services as well!
Cons
- There isn’t really a “how-to” so it takes a few times playing and dying to figure out the controls and how to progress through the game.
- The ads are pretty large up in the right-hand corner, occasionally covering up something you need or want to see.
- It didn’t save my progress in levels, coins or achievements from one session to another.
Features:
Twisted Circus is an interesting take on the “run” or “race” style of games. Rather than moving forward along a straight path, in this game the path curves in every direction, and you can flip from one side to the other, making it even more complex. There are coins to gather, as well as obstacles to avoid, which, if hit, will end the level. And if you accidentally try to change track sides or jump at the wrong time, your character will go flying out into space, also ending the level.
I liked the overall look and feel of the game – it’s very cartoony, but at the same time, it has a bit of an edge to it, like the name would suggest. I was glad to see that, and I wanted to earn enough coins to unlock some of the other characters. The problem I had is that it takes a LOT of coins to unlock anything but the character you start with, and when I left one session and came back a few days later, all my progress was gone. All the achievements I had unlocked, all the coins I had earned, even the levels I had unlocked. I was back to starting from scratch, and that really lost my interest fast. I assume that’s a bug that will be fixed, but it was something that really detracted from my enjoyment.
The game itself is a fun ride, although at first I wasn’t sure what do to. I had to experiment with the buttons and figure out what they did, and figure out what to do through trial and error. It didn’t take more than a level or two to work it all out, but it still would have been nice to have some kind of short tutorial. The game isn’t for someone new to this genre though – it was hard, and right off the bat I was having a hard time passing early levels.
I also had a hard time with the ad placement. I don’t mind ads in games – while there are some games I’ll pay for, for most of them, I like to have the option of a full version that’s ad-supported. However, the ads were HUGE and took up the entire right corner of the screen, often blocking information I wanted to see. Something smaller, or better placement would be something I’d really like to see in a future update. Now, it’s worth noting that the ads do disappear while you’re playing the level itself, but I really didn’t need that corner in the levels, since all the action takes place in the middle of the screen. I needed it when there was information on other screens that I couldn’t get to.
It’s also worth noting that I did have some force close issues with the game. It took me several tries to get it up and running, although once I managed to make it past the main screen and into the game itself, it seemed to run until I closed it. But it was frustrating that I had to open it 3-4 times before it stayed open for playing. 
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Twisted Circus Main
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Twisted Circus Menu
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Twisted Circus Gameplay
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Twisted Circus Win
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Twisted Circus Game Over
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Twisted Circus Badges
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Twisted Circus Papaya
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Twisted Circus Force Close
Fun Factor:
The gameplay itself is fun, if a bit hard at first, trying to figure it out. Once you get the hang of the controls, though, it’s still challenging, but fun. It’s definitely a game for someone who enjoys this type, since it will give you a good challenge.
Addictive:
If it did not have a few bugs early on which detracted from my willingness to come back and play more, I’d probably rate it on the mid to high addictive level scale. It’s fun and challenging, and has things like badges to earn, plus characters to earn coins for unlocking, which always gives you a good reason to keep coming back.
Graphics:
The graphics are very cartoony, which is perfect for this game. It cracked me up a few times, so it’s well-done and looks amazing.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The soundtrack is very “circus” which is perfect for the overall look and feel. It really adds another level to the game.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
Android Game,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Candybox Studio,
Papaya,
Twisted Circus
Categorised in: Arcade & Action, Licensed Content, Papaya Mobile
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