Competent but Uninspired – On A Tilt Review

On a Tilt perfectly exemplifies the difference between a good and a great game, only it winds up on the wrong side of the fence than the one it was probably aiming for. The iOS App Store is filled with terrific titles that sell for next to nothing, yet manage to squeeze admirable amounts of creativity and fun out of simple ideas. On the surface, On a Tilt sounds like it might fit right in. The game presents you with four bars on screen, two horizontal and two vertical. In each bar is a tiny strip that is controlled by tilting the device. As each pair of bars (one vertical, one horizontal) is on an opposite axis from the other, you must twist your device (and your brain) in crazy ways so that the strips in your control line up with green target areas. This does make for a certain amount of fun, but On a Tilt never manages to overcome the feeling that you’re playing around with a hidden programmer’s tool rather than a full game. The presentation is simple to a fault, lacking any charm or spark, and there’s no compelling reason to keep coming back to it. The single mode available is repetitive, taking too long to warm up and become challenging. Once it does, you’ll find yourself frustrated rather than entertained because it relies on cheap tricks to increase difficulty. The green target zones become smaller or start moving around, which isn’t so bad until they also start fading in and out so you literally can’t see what you’re aiming for. Perhaps the most annoying quirk is its habit of flipping the screen upside down for no apparent reason, forcing you to waste time moving your device around in order to continue. This isn’t a fun challenge, it’s a waste of time designed to eat away precious seconds on the game’s timer. The game has few obstacles to throw your way, and most are simply annoying instead of entertaining. The primary issue is that, on a mechanical level, On a Tilt doesn’t feel all that different to play than something like Super Monkey Ball or one of the other countless games that require you to tilt the device to win in some fashion. Compared to its competition, this game is too bare-bones to compete. It’s not a terrible game by any stretch, and could undoubtedly be improved with additional updates bringing new challenges or modes, but as it stands it doesn’t manage to distinguish itself in a sea of similar titles.
Review by MetalExile on On A Tilt.