Meganoid, OrangePixel’s first iOS release, could also be their best. 90 levels, all playable with 3 characters; The Hero, Sarge and Oreah. With The Hero, you’ll learn the levels, going through them, collecting all the gems you can find, and making it to the exit before time runs out. There’s also quite a bit of exploration involved, as a lot of the gems are hidden behind secret passages in walls. With the Sarge, it’s the same levels, but with a bumped up difficulty. These are typically for the hardcore platformer gamer. Then Oreah; with her, you’ll go through all of the levels in reverse. Some have been re-designed to make sure that there’s no spots where you can get stuck (ie; a big drop in regular mode will have an elevator platform in Oreah mode), and you’ll do all of these reversed levels, that’s right, in Sarge’s difficulty. Easily considered a steal for $0.99.
Stardash is OrangePixel’s second platformer to hit the AppStore. In it, you’ll guide your character through a Mario Land (GameBoy) type world. Stardash revolves more around speed-running, and requires you to find the quickest route from beginning to end, ala 1-Bit Ninja, by finding hidden paths that will get you there quicker. There are also hidden items that, if collected in each level, will unlock a hidden level in each of the 4 worlds. 40 levels makes it a bit smaller in size compared to Meganoid, but the challenge is still there, and should last gamers quite a while.
OrangePixel’s latest release, INC, is more a run’n’gun type platformer. You’ll go through 40 levels shooting your way through enemies, activating beacons to get through each level, while fighting bosses at the end of each of the 4 worlds, and finally saving Dr. Robotus. INC could be considered OrangePixel’s casual platformer, as the time requirements aren’t as strict, and the difficulty is no-where near as high as it is for Meganoid or Stardash. If you’re not a real platform gamer, INC should still give you quite a bit of entertainment.
Super Drill Panic, the one OrangePixel game that was originally released for free, and then shortly afterwards, was made into a paid game. The customers that downloaded the game while it was free got upgraded without any extra charge, having the ads removed. This, as you can imagine, showed how much OrangePixel respects their fans. In an AppStore full of developers taking money from gamers, and then “rewarding” them by making previously paid games free, and giving paying customers ads, OrangePixel set themselves apart with this move. You’ll play through 2 different campaigns, one male, making your way through caves, trying to not get squished by a huge boulder, and the other, playing as a female, who is trying to escape from buildings before jail-like bars come down on her. Both campaigns allow gamers to upgrade items and skills, as well as unlock an endless arcade level after completion. Super Drill Panic is by far the most casual game in OrangePixel’s line-up, appealing to hardcore gamers as well as people who got into gaming because of Angry Birds.
OrangePixel is definitely one of our favorite developers here at The App Shack, and having all 4 of these games, we can easily recommend each of them. They will all give you hours upon hours of gameplay, and at the sale price of $0.99 each, it’s impossible not to HIGHLY recommend each of these titles. Be sure to check em out if you haven’t already, and get ready to enjoy some awesome retro goodness that’ll bring back memories of old-school gaming.