Thumpies For iPhone & iPad Flat Out Rocks, Rolls & Even Thumps

(written by guest author Tim Giron. follow Tim on Twitter @timgiron)

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I have been playing Thumpies [iTunes $2.99], a rhythm game from Big Blue Bubble for a few months.  I shall now put the game down and attempt to convey my unbridled enthusiasm for this app and it’s bigger iPad sibling, Thumpies XL [iTunes $4.99] (which I am pretty sure stands for eXtraLicious).

This game flat out rocks, rolls and yes, even thumps.  The imaginative graphics, ultra smooth gameplay and wickedly good soundtrack will quickly draw you in and the challenges will keep you coming back for more.  Much more, if my experience with it is any indication.

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What?  You’re still here?  OK, for those of you that didn’t immediately jump over to the AppStore, I’ll back up and give you some highlights.

In Thumpies, you tap in rhythm as these crazy fuzzy monster heads bounce around, striking a set of targets (mushrooms, tree stumps, turtles, etc.).  When your taps are right on your notes get added to the mix and your scoring meter moves up.  When you miss, your scoring meter falls.  When your meter fills up, you get to advance.  In the early rounds, you’ll be able to keep up with just one finger, feeling the pattern and kicking out the jams.  As you progress though, you’ll have to rely on multiple finger dexterity, tracking multiple monster heads each following their own pattern.  When you nail the beats, the resulting musical number is quite spectacular indeed.  To add to the challenge, you also need to collect butterflies which allow you to unlock even more quirky levels.  You have to be quick, though, since the monsters love to eat them and if your meter falls to zero, they escape.

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Easy, medium and hard settings give both kids and adults & newcomers and veteran players an appropriate level of challenge.  Like I said earlier, this game has legs.
In the past few weeks, following the release of the iPad, several venerable games were super-sized for the new device.  And, I am happy to report, Thumpies XL retains all of the yummy goodness of the original and then heaps on some extra whipped cream in the form of multiplayer mode.  That’s right, all of the flying finger fun can now be enjoyed by two players at once.  This mode splits the screen in two for a "cooperative competition".  So, there’s only one shared meter to fill but each player is given a breakdown of their performance at the end.  My kids and I enjoyed playing a few rounds in this mode this afternoon.  The updated graphics in the XL version are big and bold, just as I expected them to be.

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At $2.99 for the iPhone app (or try the free trial version) and $4.99 for the XL iPad app, you are getting a whole lotta entertainment for the price.

April 17, 2010 | Filed Under anti-KRAPPS, Games, Guest Authors 

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