Lightopus – Lightopus (Appxplore) Review

I got this game when it first came out and absolutely loved it. I had to get it again when AppXplore re-released it under their own publishing. It's great that they were able to get out under from Bulkypix, as that publishing company NEVER let their developers updates get released, even after having them for months on end. It was a very good move for them, seeing as how the version that they released themselves is still alive and kicking after the 64bit update. Better yet, I can still install the game on my old iPhone 5 that's still running iOS 7 because they haven't bumped up the OS requirement past 6. Woo!!! Now, the game.... First off, it's beautiful! The graphics are absolutely fantastic. And there's no lag or frame skips at all. This was the case even on my old iPod 2, so of course it runs buttery smooth on any device people will be using these days. Secondly; the gameplay. It's simple enough for a child to play, but also challenging enough for veteran gamers. Picking up orbs and searching for stars to increase your score is quite the challenge when the enemies are factored in. And hoping you can snag enough stars to visit one or two of the bonus stages before you die and start from scratch will keep your heart pumping when a potentially game-ending boss is thrown into the mix. Third; the controls. They can be a little hard to get comfortable with at first, but once you do, they're fantastic. Personally, I like to hold my phone sideways (and the game adjusts the HUD so this can be done seamlessly) and use the virtual joystick with my left thumb. But you can also use the drag to move scheme where the lightopus follows your finger (which I think works better on a larger iPad screen) - though, I think it's harder to get the rotating attack method of protection to work playing this way, it's still totally possible. Lastly;; as said when I started writing this---AppXplore got the rights back to their own game and self-published it. They've made sure to not betray the trust of those of us who've bought this game twice as well as their new customers. They've also got quite the catalog of great games built up on mobile, so they (hopefully) won't be removing this game (or any of their others) anytime soon. They are also dedicated to fixing any issues that might arise, which is always a huge plus. They are one of the few developers I am very proud to support, as they've earned that respect (and kept it). So you don't have to worry about them doing you wrong.
Review by syntheticvoid on Lightopus (Appxplore).