Chrono&Cash – iOS Review

Played on: iPhone 3GS

Version:1.0.1

Developer:Orange Pixel

Price:$1.99

Developer OrangePixel–one of the most inspiring iOS teams–is back with a brand new arcade-based title: Chrono & Cash. Is this yet another success for the team or is this the first time where the game takes the money and runs?

Most games made by OrangePixel are retro looking and usually play very well, you’ve got your platformers like, Stardash and Meganoid, and they’ve dipped their toes into shooters with Neoteria and INC .  Now they’re taking the old-school arcade approach with collecting items. Chrono & Cash plays back to the arcades titles like Mario Bros. and Flicky in which you’re given a goal, and that goal is to take everything on the screen.

It first starts off rather slow but quickly becomes quite a challenge. You’ll have to avoid numerous enemies that will kill you in one shot and sometimes avoiding environmental obstructions like a spike wall or boulders falling from above. It quickly makes you want to go further and further while at the same time trying to achieve the highest score–that’s right, high scores actually matters again, rewarding you with a 1-up and highscore to show your friends.

Besides just trying to beat the levels there are mini-challenges inserted in, such as collect X number of diamonds, gain X number of points and so on. There are even items that’s glow that suggest you collecting them in a certain order to gain a “perfect bonus” which nets a lot more points per level. These are the reasons  playing the first level over and over again makes it a new experience instead of it becoming redundant, the thing I do wish is if it had was a way to pull up the different challenges during a game rather than before or after. This way if I’ve completed a challenge I was aiming for, I would like to take on the next task, but have to wait till the gameover screen appears inorder to view the different challenges.

The buttons are pretty near-perfect.  You can move left or right and the buttons can be separated as to how you far or how close together you desire (which is a big plus) but the jump button can be either a little bigger or it can even be excluded all together. Pressing the one button on the right will result in a single jump, pressing it twice will result in a double-jump. For some reason I feel this will be improved by being able to tap anywhere on the screen to jump since the left and right buttons are already close together as it is . Still it works very well and I’m nit-picking by this point.

The graphics are yet reminiscent to previous OrangePixel titles and I wouldn’t have it either way. The tiny pixel characters are their trademark style. Big heads little bodies a lot of personality. To my surprise the game can be played vertically or in landscape changing the layout of the level too, this was a surprise, so really it’s up to you how you desire to play. The layout of the levels is well placed but sometimes an item would be blocked behind the HUD, like the words ” high score” or “1-up” would be covering an item on the top left corner and I would have no idea there was anything left when what I thought was a perfect run is ruined by this item.. A little fade would fix this.

Orange Pixel usually has some of the best chip-tune music, except in this game. Not because it’s bad, because it’s not there, it’s just sound effects that will bring anyone back to the bleeps and bloops of the arcades. Sometime silence is golden and sometimes the most simplistic route is the best. The intro music is fantastic but the silence and old-school sound effects are just great to listen to as is.

So is this another trophy game for OrangePixel to hang over the mantel? Yes! It can be played in short bursts or in long rides. You’ll constantly be trying a new challenge and will even get your friends involved, just to beat their high scores. The addition of unlockable costumes is a plus, from a Smooth Criminal outfit to an Indiana Jones-inspired outfit. There’s always much to do and a lot of addicting qualities. Just a couple of nit-picks here and there but it’s still a blast. How much can you rob?

8.5/10