Game Reviews

Tilt to Live: Gauntlet's Revenge

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Tilt to Live: Gauntlet's Revenge

I don't know if I suck at this game, if it's really bloody hard, or it's just criminally unfair, but I'm struggling to make an inch of progress through Gauntlet's Revenge.

It is, certainly, an interesting departure for the Tilt to Live series, which morphs the dot-dodging arena battler into a side-scrolling shmup. Only without the shooting.

Instead, you passively dart through narrow gaps, dodge spears, avoid spikes, and collect bonus points, using the same tilt-don't-touch control scheme of the first two Tilt to Live games.

Eventually you will face enemies - robot piggies that spit fire, and nuisance bats - and you can take these foes out by plummeting into little bullseye targets that float alongside them.

Shake to Survive

One of the biggest challenges is grappling with those controls. As it says on the tin, you tilt your device to move your little spaceship away from hazards.

But it never feels quite right, even after manually calibrating the neutral position of your ship for your current seating position, and futzing with the sensitivity of the motion sensor. (Not to mention, I simply can't play it comfortably on an iPad).

Those controls felt good in the scrappy death matches of Tilt to Live proper, but in Gauntlet's Revenge you just rarely feel like you have the power to make the fast, reflexive decisions required to avoid these hazards.

You start counting which of your deaths are to be blamed on your shonky skills, and which are the fault of the controls.

Ultimately, whenever I get hit, I don't cackle or bark "just one more go!" through gritted teeth. I wince, I sigh, and I gingerly inch my thumb closer to the iPhone's home button.

Gyrate to Exist

It's also a slight departure from the boisterous and balls-out, messy and noisy rollercoaster thrill ride of the last Tilt to Live game.

That was about evading a mob of red dots, only to get your own back with a giant plasma sword or a bouncing meteorite. It was manic and crazed, and truly justified its redonkulous subtitle, Redonkulous.

Gauntlet's Revenge feels more reserved. It's kinda floaty, a little slow, and outside of the big boss battles it doesn't have its predecessor's loopy energy.

There's certainly a lot to like about Gauntlet's Revenge from its funky Mexican soundtrack to its wide range of challenges and achievements. And the levels are suitably different to stop the game feeling repetitive.

But between the lackadaisical pace and the wonky rage-inducing controls, I'm finding it hard to recommend - especially in one of the most crowded genres on the App Store.

Tilt to Live: Gauntlet's Revenge

Gauntlet's Revenge makes a valiant effort to bring the Tilt to Live controls to a new genre, but they're just too imprecise to really work
Score
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer