Sea Stars is simply a beautiful game to look at and seems to exude a positive message. This is strange considering that the other games that it shares the same genre with, namely Death Worm, Jaws Revenge and Super Mega Worm, would normally focus on plenty of destruction and death. Hothead Games’ Sea Stars is practically rated G when placed next to those games and this makes it ideal for both kids and adult gamers.
If you have played the games mentioned above, you should be familiar with the gameplay in Sea Stars. Players maneuver a cute sea animal that is perpetually moving forward, with the controls limited to making it jump or dive. This however is crucial when it comes to avoiding obstacles such as crab rockets (think torpedoes) and jelly fish. The objective here is to collect coins (like I said, no killing is involved) and to move as far as possible before being knocked out by an obstacle.
Score enough high jumps in the process and the Rainbow Birds will come along, allowing players to collect even more coins. Aside from obstacles, players will need to look out for power-up shells. These normally bestow bonuses that can either clear an area of obstacles, provide a jellyfish shield or a speed blast. Players are ranked based on their efforts in completing objectives. The coins earned in each level can be used to purchase stuff such as the aforementioned power-ups.
I really enjoyed playing the game and while it looks as colourful (and sounds as cheery) as My Little Pony and Friends, one thing will definitely attract competitive gamers: Game Center. The online leader boards measure players by the longest distance travelled and achievements are tracked as well. Like any other game with Game Center leaderboards, I had a hard time focusing on the review as I was trying to get in the top 20%….it’s like an itch I couldn’t scratch. LOL.
It’s rare to find a game that appeals to a broad casual market, ranging from the young to the new “hardcore” casual gamer, but Sea Stars seem to fit the mold pretty well. The game is also a novelty in a sense that it is one of the first games to actually use iCloud to store its saves, useful if you have multiple devices. Nine Over Ten 9/10 rates Sea Stars at a 4.5 out of 5. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Check it out on the iTunes App Store where it is available for FREE (for a limited time): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sea-stars/id465123320?mt=8. Nine Over Ten 9/10 was given a promo code for the purpose of this review.
