A quick angry birds Rio review

When a game is tied to a movie release that is almost a guarantee for suckiness. fortunately for all of us mobile gamers, angry birds Rio not only doesn't suck, it also might even be better than the original.

-I play angry birds on my android phone- Jesus phones may experience differences in game play-

first off, the game is free through the new amazon app store. i thought that the game would be hampered by the ginormous ads like the android marketplace version (seriously, video ads in the middle of my game? not cool) but this version has NO ads at all. yay corporate sponsor (fox)...I love how the gamers reap the benefit of the movie tie in.

The intro and menus are slick, very well designed and I really like how the level grid shows you exactly when they're planning updates/more levels to be released. if you've played angry birds before the levels themselves aren't mindblowingly new, but there are a few really cool changes. for one, I experienced none of the crippling lag that the last few updates have brought to the other games, which makes it much less frustrating to play. You also are rescuing birds and knocking out adorable monkeys instead of pigs.
this initial release includes 2 worlds- smuggler's den and jungle escape. I'm assuming that it follows the movie's storyline, since the birds are in cages in the first world and you save two handcuffed birds at the end. its very easy to forget that this isn't just a brand new game instead of a movie tie in.

There are now three layers to level design instead of just background and foreground, reminiscent of the white walls you can fall through in super Mario bros. 3. sometimes you'll need to hit a hanging light or chain to help you complete or three star a level and possibly to find hidden items.

the hidden items so far are golden pineapples in Smuggler's Den, and golden bananas in Jungle Escape. I liked the way they put the pineapples in progressively more difficult and hidden places as you progress through the levels. once you get to the jungle levels it continues to be difficult- you really have to look for them! I also like how they've marked where the hidden items are if they're not in plain view and how the marking disappears after the item has been found. this way I know exactly which levels contain a hidden item and whether or not I've managed to recover it.

overall, angry birds Rio is definitely a game worthy of too much of your time, and its extra great because its free.