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ROTASTIC (X360)
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Publisher: Focus Entertainment.
Developer: Dancing Dots. Released: October 2012. Genre: Action. Other versions: PC; PS3. Posted 3rd April 2023. By Tom Clare © 2023 |
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An Xbox Live Arcade action puzzle game from French developer Dancing Dots, Rotastic revolves (no pun intended) around quick-fire levels that see the player swinging between pivot points on static 2D landscapes. Collect all the gems, reach the exit as quickly as possible, and it’s on to the next challenge. The more efficient you are, the greater the rewards.
Rotastic is frustrating on two fronts. Firstly, there’s the genus of a clever, fiendish and potentially highly absorbing puzzler very much in evidence, though it never quite manages to fulfil its promise. Secondly, it’s frustrating in the most literal sense: you’re met constantly with awkward mechanisms, unforgiving and overly-busy level designs and the lingering feeling that, even with extended play, the gameplay never really feels as intuitive or as rewarding as it might have.
Rotastic works fairly well in the early stages, as levels focus on the tricky swing mechanism...
Encompassing seven worlds of around ten levels apiece, Rotastic adopts the ultra-clean, somewhat bland presentation of an Android mobile title. The collision physics and gravity effect are simplistic but function okay, whilst the animations and artwork are serviceable if unspectacular. The difficulty alone will assuage any worries players might have as to the seriousness of the venture, but the regular, zany jabberings of the announcer proves a misguided attempt at lightening the mood. A chronic lack of variety in the dialogue means these sound bites start to grate in no time at all. On the plus side, the game is presented in such a way as to make checking leaderboard scores nice and easy. Targetting your friends scores, or simply moving up the table, collecting gold and platinum (ultimate) helmets forms a solid foundation for encouraging players to improve.
Early levels reveal Rotastic’s simple but tricky-to-master grapple-and-swing motion, where holding ‘A’ at certain proximities will determine the length of an ark, whilst releasing it at a given moment sends your character hurtling in a particular direction. Though it never quite manages to engender the truly addictive, or by extension, completely satisfying sensation the best puzzlers generate, its short, streamlined levels help the player to develop nicely in the early stages. You’ll be encouraged to learn tricks, such as balancing at the top of a swing, pulling off figures of eight, bouncing strategically off stage walls and reversing the direction loops, all to improve speed and efficiency of movement. There are plenty of ways to get around.
Early levels reveal Rotastic’s simple but tricky-to-master grapple-and-swing motion, where holding ‘A’ at certain proximities will determine the length of an ark, whilst releasing it at a given moment sends your character hurtling in a particular direction. Though it never quite manages to engender the truly addictive, or by extension, completely satisfying sensation the best puzzlers generate, its short, streamlined levels help the player to develop nicely in the early stages. You’ll be encouraged to learn tricks, such as balancing at the top of a swing, pulling off figures of eight, bouncing strategically off stage walls and reversing the direction loops, all to improve speed and efficiency of movement. There are plenty of ways to get around.
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By around World 3 of the campaign, however, the fun factor starts to flag. The speedy, challenging nature of the levels demands a daunting degree of precision to gain the top rewards. After twenty or thirty levels, the compactness of the stages goes missing. In many cases, you’re tasked with surviving for minutes on end. Rotastic introduces a host of mercilessly troublesome obstacles including flaming boards, giant monsters that scythe across the screen from various directions, and it even challenges you to thread your way between deadly saws, many of which remain in motion. As if this wasn’t enough, levels become littered with switches and levers in need of activation, sometimes in a specific order. Deaths and failures are not brought about by mistakes, so much as they’re instigated by tiny misjudgements. For example, not quite gauging the exact line of a transition, or the character rotating in the wrong direction and flying straight into a grinder. One single, slight miscalculation of trajectory is often enough to cost you a shot at a higher grade. An intense bit of rinse and repeat is never a bad thing, so long as the levels are only half a minute long. When the levels start stretching towards three or four minutes in length, and a miniscule misjudgement is enough to rob you of a decent grade, instinctive addictiveness is lost.
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...progress to the latter stages, however, and things become an absolute nightmare to navigate
70 levels may like plenty, but judging by the leaderboards, only a few hundred players persevered beyond two-thirds distance. In addition, there’s a battle mode for up to four-players, but there’s little to be said for experience: it’s a bit of a non-entity. Rotastic declines after a promising start, meaning its longevity can be measured, for all but the very most committed, in a few short sessions. The basic concept is novel and relatively well-realised, but the game is ultimately let down by its level design. Rotastic fails to acknowledge the difficulty of what it asks of its players, and doesn’t stick to the benefits of short, challenging levels exhibited early on. Worth a look if you love novel ideas, but otherwise, a fairly average action puzzle effort.
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VERDICT
"The basic concept is novel and relatively well-realised, but the game is ultimately let down by its level design... it doesn’t stick to the benefits of short, challenging levels exhibited early on. A fairly average action puzzler." OVERALL: 5/10 |