KamizCrazy (iPhone, iPod Touch)
Developed by Fluid Pixel
Published by Fluid Pixel
Released on December 29, 2008 (US)

There is some flair to jumping over, under, or around an obstacle. Nearly every level has a few interactive objects that you can manipulate and place before the KamiCrazy soldiers spawn. These objects (switches, springs, or some sort of gravity defying device) have to be placed within a matter of seconds once a level is initiated. The soldiers move fast, perhaps too eagerly seeking an untimely death. These guys are in some serious need of an anti-depressant.

Placing interactive objects can be quite the time-consuming task – and definitely not the good kind. Objects don’t snap into place on a grid, so you really never have a firm grasp on where exactly something needs to be placed – even if you conceptually understand where it needs to be. Millimeter sized mistakes are all too common and frustrating after navigating a particularly aggressive portion just to find you misplaced a trampoline. Something that adds to this annoyance is that the game doesn’t recognize when you have less soldiers than what is required to complete the level, making it impossible to clear it. You have to manually restart by swiping madly at the screen for the menu to appear with the option.

The touch controls add to the problems. The soldiers’ sprites are too small to manage reliably. When they cluster in the more confined space, this problem turns into a nightmare. Attempting to shift the direction of one soldier in a group is a regrettably rough endeavor. The same goes for trying to get one to jump in a crowd. Even when a soldier is isolated, the controls are manically unresponsive to your swipes and pushes.

The vast majority of my time with this game is spent wrangling with the controls, not the soldiers. In the later levels, when the difficulty and timing of the puzzles requires faster action, it becomes a struggle to coordinate movement. The erratic controls also lead to an enormous amount of premature deaths. Nothing is more frustrating and unrewarding than having your gameplay time stolen as a result of the game, not your skill. The control-caused deaths are so frequent in KamiCrazy that I found them to trump nearly everything that the game has going for it.

The art and music are definitely high spots for the game. The palette is full of vibrant colors, all pleasing to the eye. The sound and music are lofty, whimsical pieces. The game certainly has a personality, brought about by a characteristic and pleasing presentation. The animations are a bit stale, but it’s forgivable considering the platform isn’t exactly a processing powerhouse.

KamiCrazy is the kind of title that could have been successful with a bit more polish. As it stands right now, it is a below average game with an interesting concept and a great presentation. But the good qualities are easily wiped away by glaringly bad controls and poor design elements that can’t be overlooked with even the smallest amount scrutiny. The developer is currently working on a patch that will address the control problems that I have with KamiCrazy, but as it stands now, I find it extremely hard to recommend a purchase.

Score: 4 -- Below Average (4s have some high points, but they soon give way to glaring faults. Not the worst games, but are difficult to recommend.)