Gopogo
by: Nitrome
Platformer
Gopogo by Nitrome is a fun and addictive platformer where you control funny looking cartoony characters on a Pogo Stick avoiding enemies and collecting coins in 40 levels and an endless one. Practice your jumping, and unlock all characters.
Review
Gameplay 88%
Gopogo is a platformer where you take control of a funny cartoony eggplant on a Pogo Stick. The character is jumping automatically, and you only control its balance so you can tilt it to the sides, and that affects how far it jumps. To do so, you place your finger in the middle of the screen, and drag it to the sides. Depending on how far you drag you finger, the eggplant will lean to that side.
The objective of each level is to reach the goal at the end, where a couple of other characters wil be waiting for you. Of course, there will be obstacles on your way. Besides jumping from platform to platform, the will be guards carrying electric batons, which you can jump over, guards with spikes on the back that you can’t touch, suspended brindges that go down everytime you jump on them, cracked floors that take damage when you’re on them, and will crumble after a few jumps, and some other dangers like pipes leaking hot pressure gas and such.
On the way you can collect coins that you exchange for extra lives or to unlock new characters, and on the Endless Level, you can even find Pogo Stick Icons, which give you an extra life. When you fail a level, you can exchange 5 coins for another life, or watch a video ad to get 3 extra lives.
Graphics 96%
Gopogo features great pixel art which Nitrome is known for. The visual style is a colorful 16-Bit presentation, with all characters perfectly animated, and also have funny expressions when attacked or falling down.
Sometimes it feels like you’re just looking at a wall, but most of the time you’ll see many elements like power grids, ventilation fans, windows, and even posters of other Nitrome games. Also, coins and pogo lives are rotating with a smooth animation, and when you take them there’s a nice looking spark of light, so the little details are taken care of.
Production Quality 98%
Gopogo features 40 levels, each one with a pretty different challenge, and it should keep you busy for quite a while. And every level has a certain amount of coins you can collect, so trying to get them all in each level ads some replay value for more ‘hooked’ players.
For those fond to infinite jumpers, there’s an Endless Level, that can get quite addictive, and once you get bored of watching the same character, you can try out the dozens of other characters you can choose from, everyone with it’s own style.
Finally, the chiptune music and sound effects are really good, and make for a nice audio experience, just like platformers in classic console games back in the 90’s.
Value for your Money 90%
Gopogo is free to download on Google Play and the App Store, but everytime you lose you’ll see a banner ad, and since the game can be pretty hard, you may be seeing advertising every 5 seconds. Also, to get 3 lives, you need to see a 30 seconds video ad, wich means the average player will be seeing a tad too much ads. Still, is a very fun and addictive game, and given the quality, you’ll let it pass (if you’re kinda good at it).Launch Video
Summary
Gopogo it’s fun and addictive win simple touch controls and great pixel art and chiptune music. While it may show advertising a little too often, it’s not really something to complain about since it’s one of the best games of its kind. Check it out. Pros- Great Pixel Art and Animation
- 40 Levels and dozens of characters to unlock
- Nice chiptune music
- Can get very hard for the average player
