Alto’s Adventure Review – Visual poetry

By
On February 24, 2015

App Type: Game

Alto’s Adventure Review – Visual poetry

Our rating:

By: Snowman

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2015-02-19

Developer: Snowman

Price: 1.99

User Rating:
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There’s a lot to be said about such a beautiful game as Alto’s Adventure. Some say it is just a Ski Safari clone. Some say it is repetitive, some say games like this are dime a dozen. I say bullsh*t. Alto’s Adventure would be an awesome game even if only because there are llamas in it. As for the other criticisms, I’ll tackle them below.

In Alto’s Adventure your goal is to constantly snowboard among never-ending slopes among an awesome scenery. Jumping over rocks, executing backflips, escaping enraged village elders, all make Alto’s Adventure an endearing experience. You’ll face heavy storms, snow, sunsets and sunrises, shooting stars. You’ll crash, and jump and fall and smash, constantly. It has been done before? Yes, it has, and it will be done again and again. It never has been so beautiful, though.

Controls are easy: tap to jump, keep pressing to execute a backflip and keep pressing to keep on spinning. Fall wrongly and you’ll have to start over. Game mechanics add a little more to this simple setup: every time you execute a trick you gain a small speed boost, which in turn makes your jumps higher so you can execute more until you can be going pretty fast (something that the games handles awesomely by slowly moving the camera closer or farther from you depending on your speed: genius.) Among the slopes you’ll find some pole lines you can grind as trick points, rocks where you can bounce as an extra trick, rooftops for more grinding, campfires to stomp and coins to purchase improvements (and no, there are no IAPs in Alto’s Adventure: it’s a great game where you pay just once.)

To keep some sense of progress in a mostly endless runner game, there are goals you can achieve (180 goals split in 60 levels of 3 each) and in turn you can unlock new characters. Which adds quite a bit of gameplay, since each character has different handling.

Would I recommend Alto’s Adventure? In less than a heartbeat. One of the best games I’ve played in quite a while.

Quick Take

Value:High

Would I Buy Again:Yes

Learning Curve:Low

Who Is It For:Anyone, it's a great game for anyone

What I Like:Graphics, controls

What I Don't Like:I'd like more unlockable content

Final Statement:Don't miss one of the best games of the year

Read the Developer's Notes:
Features:

• Fluid, graceful and exhilarating physics-based gameplay

• Procedurally generated terrain based on real-world snowboarding

• Fully dynamic lighting and weather effects, including thunderstorms, blizzards, fog, rainbows, shooting stars, and more

• Easy to learn, difficult to master one button trick system

• Chain together combos to maximize points and speed

• Test your skills with 180 handcrafted goals

• Discover six unique snowboarders, each with their own special attributes and abilities

• Challenge your friends with Game Center. Compete for best high score, best distance, and best trick combo!

• Acquire the wingsuit from Izel’s workshop for an entirely new gameplay dynamic

• Beautifully minimalist and evocative visual design

• Original music and handcrafted audio for an ambient and immersive experience (headphones recommended!)

• Universal app with iCloud support. Play on your iPhone and iPad and your progress will always be in sync.

Alto’s Adventure is a premium game with no ads or in-app purchases.

Article By

Ruben Berenguel is finishing his PhD in Mathematics while writing in mostlymaths.net about being a 'geek of all trades'. He also happens to be the senior editor in the What's on iPhone network: any complaints go to him!

ruben has written 174 awesome app reviews.

You can read other great content from ruben at https://www.mostlymaths.net