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You’ve heard us blab about Arthur Ham’s Run! for many weeks now, but let’s meet its “more hardcore” cousin battling robots and tall buildings.

Canabalt ($2.99)

For $2.99 and an indie dev release, it may look surprising how this app got legions of 4-star rated AppStore reviews. Once we launched the game, there wasn’t even question… this game deserved every bit of those stars packing action, control simplicity and elegant game design onto one epic game.

Presentation

In complete contrast with Arthur Ham’s Run!, this game is set in a gritty and dark world of what seems to be an alien invasion. The colors used are variations of the colors black, gray and white which perfectly set a unique tone to Canabalt.

Every bit of detail is put into the game including pieces of shattered windows  flying all over the place, laser sounds, and TWO game outstanding game soundtracks. If there’s one thing left to say, that would be this: Canabalt is one of the best designed games out there.

Controls

Flick or tap or backwards tap. However you want to do it, you only need to touch the screen to initiate a runner jump to avoid obstacles. That’s it.

Gameplay

Canabalt’s goal of course is to run as far as you can while trying to avoid obstacles at the same time. Obstacles include jumping through buildings, jumping off of crushing buildings, and avoiding robots, boxes, and of course, falling to your death.

You can either go full action mode with the “Run” soundtrack in which the music is really thrilling or go with “Daring Escape” for a more Prison Break type of gameplay. It’s funny how two soundtracks can create an impression of you playing TWO different games.

Perfect timing is required with a bit of luck because obstacles are created in random. I can’t survive the big ass missile that splits the building in a split second, but you may so good luck. To top it all off, Canabalt has been updated with global leaderboards and tweet your scores features!

Suggestions

I’ve been saying all along the game should replicate Run!’s features but I take those comments back. This game is all about thrilling survival and escape and to that, the current game more than satisfies those.

Conclusion

If you figured one finger controlled action would be a doozy, prepare to get your minds completely blown. This game is one of the most thrilling games I’ve ever played on the iPhone where it seems it was first designed for. The original flash version is available here and if you think that was something you’d want to take anywhere to play, buy this game ASAP.

Contest

What’s YOUR favorite alien invasion movie? Holla at us below, and you might just win yourself this EPIC game.