Tower Bloxx is one of those terrific, pioneering games that proved the mobile was a viable and sustainable gaming platform. It’s kept going, too - evolving with the hardware, going 3D, themed versions and pushing out onto other games systems.
But there comes a point with this kind of pioneering title where it’s hard to accept yet another conversion. Of course, it’s equally understandable why Digital Chocolate puts out as many ports as possible (not everyone’s already played it), but in the interests of keeping the established Tower Bloxx fans onboard, every new iteration should offer up something unique.
Regrettably, the Android version of Tower Bloxx goes right back to the game’s origins, in a 2D stack-‘em-up with no real surprises.
It’s still very much early days for Android gaming, and we’ve yet to see how it copes with the complexities of 3D, multiplayer or any of the other quirks we’ve come to expect from a smartphone, but there’s little here to suggest the possibilities in store.
A crane lowers in the bottom block of your new skyscraper, and drops it when you touch the screen. The next floor is then craned in, and it’s up to you to release it as it swings past the previous part of the building, releasing it as accurately as possible to align the two blocks. The building continues to 10, 20, 30 and more floors depending on what type you’re putting together.
Now, one of the best aspects of Tower Bloxx is its ultra simple controls, and having one big touchscreen controlled button makes it easier than ever to drop the blocks.
The higher it gets, the more the structure sways around, and it does get precariously vertiginous as the skyscrapers begin to touch the clouds. This is raw Tower Bloxx stuff, which in itself is definitely no bad thing, but even on the mobile we’ve seen more adventurous styling than is on display here.
The G1’s screen is larger than almost any mobile’s, yet the tiny blocks look like peas on a drum as they swing about the place. At least half of the screen goes unused due to the diminutive graphics, while the cityscape background is cluttered enough to camouflage the blocks on the lower levels - certainly the blue ones.
Essentially there’s nothing wrong with the gameplay - it’s Tower Bloxx through and through. But neither is there anything at all to mark the popular franchise’s debut on the Android, making this quickly forgettable for anyone who’s owned a previous version.
If you’re completely new to Tower Bloxx, add two points to the score. If you’re an aficionado, prepare for disappointment.
Tower Bloxx
A quick, unadorned, yet functional clone of the original mobile version. Without a little more effort in the conversion to keep us interested, Tower Bloxx on the Android comes across as a lacklustre affair
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.