Angry Birds

iPhone & iPod Touch Game Review

Angry Birds is possibly the most popular iPhone game of all time, but does it deserve all the acclaim?

The gameplay in many ways stems from the early Apple and PC artillery games where you had to lob shells at targets, figuring out the correct angle and velocity along the way. In Angry Birds, the artillery shells have been replaced with various birds, each with different abilities, and the cannon has been replaced by a slingshot. Your target in each level is a poorly constructed shelter, built by some egg stealing pigs. (Why did the pigs steal the eggs? Have you ever had Eggs Benedict? Question answered.) Destroy each pig, either by hitting it directly or causing a wall to fall on it, and you’ll pass the level.

The levels quickly become more challenging than just successfully aiming though. You’ll soon have to figure out where to shoot each type of bird in order to best collapse the pigs’ structures, and it will require a lot of trial and error. That seems to be where a lot of Angry Birds’ appeal lies. The levels are deceptively cute and simple, and therefore easy to pick up and play, yet they can often leave you sitting on the toilet 20 minutes after you’ve finished pooping. It’s one dangerously addictive casual game.

So does it deserve its reputation? Well, yes and no. One can’t argue against the quirky fun that can be had playing the game, but at the same time it’s really just a cuter version of many free Flash games that came before it. If you haven’t been burned out by the dozens of free artillery games on the Internet, definitely give Angry Birds a try.