For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Saturn Slalom from Noodlecake Studios on my iPhone 14 Pro.
The game mechanics and rules are very simple in Saturn Slalom. you get points by crossing the middle of the screen. you press the left or right side of the screen to go in that direction. the obstacles are planets. you earn combo points by moving through the planet's gravity well as you move across the middle. the higher the combo, the better and more epic the music gets. But as this video shows, i only got 1 decent run as it's much harder to master than i thought it'd be.
My concern is that i saw everything the game has to offer. i know there are much higher scores possible, as i looked up the global leaderboards, but the game does nothing to tease what else is ahead. Saturn Slalom is difficult and takes some skill. i feel like the developers could've highlighted the music aspect like a carrot on a stick. if someone downloaded the game without knowing getting combos is how you enhance the music, i feel like some people may walk away from Saturn Slalom.
Throughout the video i make suggestions about different planetary hazards, like threading the needle between a planet and it's moon, or a black hole which requires the player to stay on the opposite half of the screen, which is a challenge with these simple controls. There is no difficulty in Saturn Slalom and i feel like it wouldn't be too hard to implement one. i'd suggest making the combo system easier for normal players and keep it as it is for hard mode. sometimes it's tough to keep a combo level up if it's just increased. i often found that i'd get it to 3 for it to go right back to 2 because i didn't combo the immediate next planet.
Even though it is hard to master Saturn Slalom, it is just as easy to pick it up and play. it does require both hands so it's not perfect for commuters, but restarts are prompt and there's even the option to revive yourself and continue, for the price of watching an advert. This use of adverts is fine. watch an ad and get something in return is the best way to do them in free to play games. but there came a moment where i was having to watch ads even if i restarted from the beginning. i think this could've been made clearer with a simple countdown next to the restart button. Saturn Slalom doesn't make full use of my iPhone's screen so there's space to make things clearer for the player.
Ultimately, these are more suggestions rather than things that need to immediately change in the game. what i played of Saturn Slalom is fun and having 1 good run gives me incentive to try and get better at it. with it's basic controls, simple rules and mechanics, and nice music i would recommend it, though i know it's difficulty won't be for everyone.
Version 1.1.4 Played
