Developer: Qubic and Sonka Games
Publisher: Qubic and Sonka Games
Release Date: 28th September
Price as of Article: $4.99 £4.49
Astro Bears has absolutely no story to it at all. We have 4 bears who are in space. How they got there or why it’s bears we shall never ever know. It is but a mystery.
If it’s one thing Qubic games does well bring us games with stonkingly great music. Robonmauts still fresh in my memory for its club-like music and this is no different. A great track and the sound effects are pretty good as well. The only thing I will mention is the track plays over and over again. It would have been good if there were a few more tracks to keep things from getting stale.
Another thing Qubic games brings within the games they publish is a good level of polish. The graphics for a game which costs a mere £4.49 is of a decent standard and serviceable. The 3d models of the bears are pretty good as well. There could have been more work done with the animations and more variety with the planets. I would have liked to have seen a lot more done with the backgrounds to make it look more appealing.
The gameplay here is as simple as it gets. The game is really made for multiplayer where 2-4 players can play the game on one TV screen. We have seen a multitude of games like this already but none this cheap. In one player mode you need to choose a bear and catch a Rocket-propelled fish. There are no other modes and the only way you can die is if you hit the ever-expanding tail you create as the bear when you are running. Imagine the game snake in 3D only in this you are running around a small spherical planet and you can use your rocket pack to stay in the air until your metre runs out or jump over the tail and thats basically it. It is the 3D snake! You can move the bear left or right but ultimately you have to avoid the trail. It’s great that they tried to implement a single player mode but for me, it looked like it was an afterthought. I would say though that it’s fun and easy to just pick up and play.
Each bear has its own stats but they are not upgradeable. It would have been great to upgrade your bear’s stats by winning matches or doing some short quests in single player mode. The stats comprise of how long they can stay airborne for or how fast they can run. It would have been great to see some power-ups of some sort.
In multiplayer mode, things certainly get more interesting as you are trying to trip up your opponents so they lose by using the trail to do this. If you have seen Tron then this is what it looks like!
There is more strategy involved and it’s different to the single-player mode in that you have other peoples trails as well as your own to worry about. This adds an element of strategic play in that you will try and swerve in front of your opponent so you can get them to go straight into your trail or use your rocket pack to hover over them and then landing in front of them. It’s always more fun playing with friends and the game goes up a level playing in multiplayer mode. It’s decent fun but only for a few short blasts.
There are currently a few games on the e-store which are around this price bracket of £4.49 or 5 dollars. You can get Kamiko or 36 fragments for even cheaper. This, however, offers a single player mode albeit not very deep and a multiplayer mode. For the price, you get decent graphics, music and gameplay which works well and is quite fun for a little while. What you don’t get though is longevity. There are not enough modes to keep things fresh or any online to speak of. There is no doubt though that for the price you are getting good value here.
Competition
Before reading our verdict take a moment to read about the amazing competition Qubic & Sonka have put together.
QubicGames and SONKA present Astro Bears Party release contest with 1000$ in prizes!
Record a video of you and your friends playing Astro Bears Party.
1st place – 500$ in eShop
2nd place – 300$ in eShop
3rd place – 100$ in eShop
…and 5 additional honourable mentions – 20$ eShop cards
To participate in the contest you have to:
- Record a video of you and your friends playing Astro Bears Party in Party Mode.
- Upload your video on YouTube, make it public and name it: “Astro Bears Party – YOURVIDEONAME”.
- Send a link to the video to contest@astrobearsparty.com
What's Your Reaction?
