Apple Arcade review #80: Crossy Road Castle

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I was super excited when Hipster Whale announced a new Crossy Road game for Apple Arcade. I jumped on it immediately. I was super disappointed when I realised it was an endless platformer with virtual buttons. Then I played it for a bit and discovered its quirky charms, and guys: it’s pretty damn good.

Now, this is in spite of the virtual game pad. In an ideal world, I’d be playing this on the Nintendo Switch, though Crossy Road makes pretty sweet lemonade from vertical lemons. In other words: it’s a platformer that benefits from being played vertically. The virtual controls aren’t bad; far from it, they’re super responsive and easy to use. They’re still virtual, however, and I do wonder how great this game would be with actual buttons. I could connect a controller to the iPhone, but that would be madness. And I’ve yet to play this game on the TV, because it feels like such a natively mobile game.

I’m torn here. Crossy Road was great. This has the same charm, the same lovely art and great music, the same inventiveness and twists on familiar formats…but it’s also got those controls. Which work fine! But still.

At the end of the day, though, Crossy Road Castle is a very good mobile game. Most of you will love it. I think I sort of love it, too, but I just wish I lived in a world where I could easily play this with a real controller on my phone. With those caveats noted: one of the best Apple Arcade games yet.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/no/app/crossy-road-castle/id1478978570

P.S. Forgot to mention this, because I’ve yet to play it with other people, but it’s also got multiplayer, and it looks like a lot of fun! I can’t wait to give it a go.

Ragnar TornquistComment