As the iPad technology gets fancier, traditional physics games are being replaced with more complex 3D titles.
Popstar Physics: Save Toshi 2, the sequel to last year’s Silver Award-winning Save Toshi, isn’t the most polished game, but it provides plenty of fun for Isaac Newton junkies.
ZombifiedThe storyline is much odder than the game itself. Evil, busty female zombies are invading Toshi’s mind, and you have to use items in the virtual world to kill them in a limited number of steps.
Unfortunately, you can’t use the items directly. Instead, you have to shoot balls, like a cannon, to interact with the items.
Saying there's a variety of items is an understatement. There’s ice, which will continue sliding, and rubber, which will bounce off any surface, as well as TNT, wood, concrete, metal, and so on.
Popstar Physics kind of throws you in the deep end, with each early level adding yet another item to the mix. However, the steep learning curve provides a playful, well-balanced palette for the dozens of levels.
Each level uses an Angry Birds-style three-star ranking system based on the number of turns it takes you to complete it, so it’s possible to get through the game by just scraping by each puzzle.
A little uglyAs far as presentation goes, Popstar Physics is a little rough around the edges. The sound isn’t memorable, but the graphics are on the amateur side. It isn’t distracting, but it’s unfortunate that the visuals don’t match the fun play beneath it all.
That said, Popstar Physics is a lot of fun. Some of the puzzles are as clever as something out of Casey’s Contraptions, and it's genuinely cool to see one well-placed toss setting off a chain reaction of damage and destruction. Despite its looks, Popstar Physics is worth a spin.