Status: So many levels to go!
Sometimes you just want a simple distraction, something that doesn’t require reaching a checkpoint. I was looking for something along these lines for a trip I recently took, and since I had a bit of money left in my PSN wallet, I decided to check out a couple different Minis games. The first one I purchased was Bloons, which caught my attention first because of the price, and secondly because a friend had mentioned it when I asked Twitter for suggestions.
Bloons gives you control of a delightful little monkey who throws darts at balloons. Each level gives you a target amount of balloons that must be popped in order to proceed. In the beginning, its relatively simple, aiming with the digital pad left and right to throw your allotted darts. As you progress, you will discover special balloons containing items such as bombs or ice, which when popped will destroy or alter your level. Some types of bricks you encounter will also have special properties, like breaking when hit or be rubbery, causing darts to bounce off them. Eventually I discovered that I could also push up or down on the digital pad to increase and decrease the height I wished my darts to soar to. (I skipped the tutorial, otherwise I would have known that sooner.)
Overall, Bloons offers quite a challenge and is well worth the money spent. There are around 70 levels of increasing difficulty to be mastered and with the added feature of a level editor, you can always try to create your own should you feel the desire to. It’s a great game to play for a level or two at a time or for as long as you want.
Reviewed for GamingAngels – Dec 18, 2009