playing some video games on a sunny day unaware that something really, really bad is coming your way. Suddenly, a report shows on the news saying Earth has been invaded by mutants made of, guess what? Right, mud. And just like that, your main character jumps out of his porch with a water pistol in his hands in hopes of ridding the world from the mutant “mudds”, which he will find while he runs, jumps and shoots across a world full of traps, obstacles and, yes, cute mutants made of mud.
A Familiar World with a Twist
The moment you start controlling Max (the game’s main character) the world around you becomes instantly recognizable. Brown and green mounds and pits with spikes and a blu sky with nice-looking pine trees in the background clearly show where the game got its inspiration from. To control Max, you have a set of basic controls laid out on the iPhone’s touch screen: Directional buttons on the left to move in either direction or to duck and a couple of buttons on the right for jumping and for shooting your water pistol. Additionally, by pressing the jump button while in mid-air you will also be able to hover for a short while thanks to Max’s jetpack. Pressing the jump button again while hovering will cause you to drop instantly. Getting used to these moves is essential for making any progress in the game, since there are various places where you will be required to land on tiny pieces of terrain.
The Power of Collectibles
During each stage, you will find diamonds floating in mid-air (what a nice world, right?) that you can collect to unlock some power ups. These will allow you to hover for longer, to jump higher and to shoot stronger shots. What is even better though, is that if you would like a harder challenge, these upgrades will allow you to reach special levels hidden within the regular ones. Even more: If you unlock all levels and collect all diamonds, you will be able to play as your Granny, who has even more abilities and with whom allows you to reach a third set of levels that are all extremely challenging. These are not required at all to finish the game’s main storyline, yet they provide an excellent challenge for skilled players.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to gaming on my iPhone, I am not a fan of platformers. They require the player to execute precise jumps and movements at fast speeds and the iPhone’s touch screen controls simply don’t offer that level of precision. However, Mutant Mudds finds that rare balance of required skill and touch screen responsiveness that makes it very fun and enjoyable to play. It sacrifices on the difficulty department on the basic stages but then it more than makes up for it on latter ones. Overall, the experience is definitely among the best of what you can find on your iOS device. It might not be Mario, but if you are looking for a great platformer on your iPhone, you can’t go wrong with this one. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
