It seems to me that, regularly, we assume that the requirements for a mobile game are different than for a console or handheld device title. Well, they are and they probably should be.
Often, it's quick little hits of fun that people are often looking for with a mobile title instead of a deep, immersive, all-consuming experience (can you imagine playing Skyrim on your iPhone?). What then makes a mobile game good is its ability to tax the mind (at least a little), be digestible in small pieces, and keep you coming back for
more. It doesn't hurt for it to look good either. One game that hits all those requirements was released in mid-November for iOS, Saving Yello.
Ridiculous amounts of fun, Saving Yello requires the player to help get a poor goldfish, Yello, back to his bowl after his owner, seven-year-old Mathilda, drops him random places. Each level requires that you, in a set number of moves get Yello back to his bowl by traversing obstacles like holes in the floor, toys, and random other bits of flotsam and jetsam. There are also power-ups like blocks of ice, bits of fire, and some dynamite to help you on your way.
Yello is moved by grabbing his tail, pulling it back, and aiming him in slingshot fashion. Yes, yes, like Angry Birds, but you're actually physically assaulting the fish as you're pulling his tail, not only upon impact. Plus, Yello isn't really angry he just seems worried about suffocation.
No, it's not handled in a cruel manner in any way (though unquestionably some people out there will find the treatment of the pretend fish less than agreeable… we disagree). Instead, the game features great, cartoony, graphics, and a poor fish who truly seems to just want to get to his fishbowl. Let us not forget either that you're trying to help him, it was Mathilda who removed him from the bowl in the first place.
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