PonPonPanic – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: SunCorporation
Version #: 1.0.0 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)
Date Released: 2010-02-18
Developer:
Price: 2.99
User Rating:
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PonPonPanic is yet another iPhone adaptation of the classic arcade video game Space Invaders. It is teeming with the sort of fun and craziness that we’ve come to freely associate with our friends from the Land of the Rising Sun. In this game, extraterrestrial beings are invading the home planet’s atmosphere one group at a time and it’s up to the planet’s inhabitants, one-eyed little beings called Harzians, to defeat them. It turns out, though, that these Harzians have no weapons to defend their home with. So what do they use? In true Kamikaze fashion, they use themselves instead.
In order to obliterate the alien enemies one by one, you must hurl the Harzians towards the sky by tapping on them as soon as they jump from either of the two docks at the bottom of the game-screen, in the middle of which is, er, nothing. But beware, you must avoid letting your Harzians drop towards that nothingness as it would be their deaths they’d be falling into, as opposed to not losing any game-lives when throwing them into space after missing their target aliens.
Playing PonPonPanic is actually quite fun. It starts easy, with the Harzians jumping off to be tapped one after the other, but eventually the game becomes more and more challenging and the third part of the app’s name is realized as you panic and rush to tap every Harzian before it reaches the bottom. The Harzians also exhibit a few quirks as you interact with them, changing colors and making squeaky sounds as you tap them.
I have a few issues with PonPonPanic, but the top one is its price. At $2.99, It’s a bit too high for a game that over time tends to be repetitive, especially when you consider the fact that you’d have to start at the beginning level again when you run out of lives while at a considerably higher level. Maybe a $.99 price point would have been more appropriate.
Quick Take
Value:Medium.
Would I Buy Again:At it current price, probably not.
Learning Curve:Medium. There's a slightly long Help page, but don't let that intimidate you. It's actually quite easy once you tap on your first Harzian.
Who Is It For:People who like their Space Invaders treated with some Kamikaze-style gameplay.
What I Like:The quirky little Harzians and the various ways they respond to the player's tapping.
What I Don't Like:Starts at the beginning level even when a higher level has been reached. Can't play iPod music within the game. No social media connectivity.
Final Statement:In keeping with the Japanese's sunny disposition, PonPonPanic is a fun iPhone version of Space Invaders, done Kamikaze-style.
1. Touch the Harzians as they fall to make them jump.
2. Touch a Harzian three times in a row to do a high jump and slam into an invader. Rocket the Harzians into the invaders and don't let them fall to the ground below!
