The Jolly Gamesman and HIs Many Toys
Hook Champ for the iPhone & iPod Touch
Graphics do not always a great game make. So is the first observation I had of Hook Champ. Both visually and audibly, it’s a love story to the 8bit generation in your hands.
You control your Indiana Jones-esque character using the top and bottom of your iPhone screen. Touching and holding to the left or right will make you move forward or backwards. Tapping on the top half of your screen causes you to jump and throw your rope in a diagonal line to where your finger touched. If your rope makes contact with an attachable surface, holding your finger down will keep you attached to the rope as you gain momentum. Taking your finger off will recall your rope, allowing you to fire off another rope and continue your adventure forward. Ideally you will keep this up without touching the ground to beat the clock.
As you swing through the caverns and caves, your goal is to collect coins which can be used for upgrades. Extending the length of your rope, walking speed, jump boots and bigger hooks will allow you to traverse the later levels and come back to the earlier ones and do more exploring. Along with the practical upgrades, cosmetic ones are available also.
While there is no set time limit to each level, your progression through the levels is forced by the ghost that lives in the caverns. A big black floating monster, reminiscent of a Langolier, it nips at your coat-tails as you swing your way through the levels of this game.
I enjoyed the replay value added to the game by being able to go back and race against my ghost in the earlier levels with better equipment and power ups. My main gripe with this title though is that the first group of levels are a bit tedious until you get some better power-ups, and when you do get them, the levels progressively get more difficult. So you never really have a sense of superiority over the levels, unless you go back and play some of the earlier ones with your new found upgrades.
~The Fine Print~
$2.99 / Also available in a Lite Version
