If Doodle Jump showed off the gyroscope in the iPhone, Angry Birds showed off the touch controls. Much like Doodle Jump, it's a simple, easy to grasp concept - angle the Angry Birds to destory the structures, with satisfying results. WIth a cute aesthetic, and neat sound design, it served as a great introductory title to the iPhone's potentail - and unlike Doodle Jump, featured levels and those all important stars - meaning completionists could whittle away to grab them all, perfect for train or bus journeys or breaks at work.

It's one of those classics that is overlooked because of how ubitiqious it's become, with a million spin-offs and two films far after it was ever relevant. But the game itself was a great piece of design. And for less than a pound, great value whether you played it once or a hundred times.

But it also - sadly, dissapointingly - has become symbolic of the way mobile gaming has changed. Despite having paid for the game back in the day, it's now full of adverts, between loading levels, when pausing, after finishing a level, on the home screen. Rather than the strategic puzzling out of a level to get the stars, there's constant encouragement to use the little shortcuts - able to purchase with real money - instead. It's... Still playable, I suppose, but lacks the appealing simplicity that shone so much with the original - and with that era of mobile gaming. It's on other platforms, that I'm sure don't have the same issues - but without the in-hand touch controls, it seems lesser.

A game worth remembering for its place in gaming history, both positive and negative.

Reviewed on Feb 03, 2021


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