Swinging, Clinging & Frustrating.

We were all young once, so i guess everybody that reads this review can relate to the following:
You were walking down the street, minding your own business, when suddenly something catched your eye; it was a beautiful, shiny, filled-to-the-rim-with-goodies Toy vending machine! Aww the excitement!  In my case there was only one thing to be done: secretly taking a quarter from my mom’s wallet (in the future they would end up calling this “Stealing”), inserting the 25ct into the machine….rotating the lever….wait for it to click and then….what could it be? A delicious gumball, toys, maybe even a real tattoo?
Even the thought of these days makes you wonder: why isn’t there a game about it?
And thus, with these thoughts in mind, the creative team of IUGO Mobile Entertainment created Toy Bot Diaries: Entry 1; an iPhone/iPod Touch game that’s all about a little Toy Robot that has lost its memory. It’s up to the player to guide Toy Bot through a number of levels while solving puzzles and collecting Memory-chips to recover your memories.
Toy Bot is equipped with Magnetic Boots so he can cling to any metallic object he sees fit, and can use his Electric Grappling Hook to activate switches or move objects, or just to pull a “Spiderman” and swing about.
Toy Bot Diaries: Entry 1 is the first chapter in a series, and this game features 3 levels and one Boss Battle. So this isn’t a complete game you ask? True, but that’s a bit justified by its price (€2.39/$3.99), although it remains to be seen if this first part is even worth the low price, so let’s break it down and see where we end up!

Sound:

As i first started playing this game, i was actually impressed by the crisp sound coming out of my iPhone. Unfortunately, the music in Toy Bot Diaries is very repetitive and boring, and can really get under your skin if you let it. It’s just the same beats over and over again, and although each level has different music, this really spoils your fun-gaming experience.
There are some good things to mention though; Toy Bot actually does a very cute “Yippee” everytime he comes across a checkpoint, and the effects such as the sound of your Electric Grappling Hook really sound convincing.

Graphics:

The graphics in Toy Bot Diaries are good, nothing special though, just good.
The menus look good, same goes for in-game action, but there’s just nothing that really comes through as “wow”.

As you regain your memory, you unlock illustrations that tell you a little bit about what has happened to poor Toy Bot, these do look cool by the way.

All in all, Toy Bot Diaries looks fine, but there’s plenty of room for improvement in a future enstallment.

Gameplay:

Toy Bot Diaries was specifically made for iPhone and Ipod Touch, and so is the control scheme. You can make Toy Bot walk by tilting your iPhone (when playing you always hold your iPhone sideways) in the direction you want him to go. You can use your Grappling hook by tapping any metallic object on your screen and by tapping Toy Bot himself, you can activate his Magnetic Boots.

It is your task to maneuver Toy Bot through any of the levels by walking or swinging your way through, while solving how to get past the many obstacles that get in your way. In addition, you must collect all 50 memory-chips so you can finally get to know what has happened to you in the first place.
When it comes to controls, Toy Bot Diaries is a bit of a mix-up, sometimes the controls work really wel, you can swing your way through some parts of the levels with ease, only to get stuck on parts of the level where the controls suddenly don’t seem to work. In some cases you can tap all you want but the Magnetic Boots won’t do a thing. Sometimes Toy Bot just doesn’t walk, even when you tilt the iPhone all the way to the left or right. These flaws are a real setback in a game that so far seemed to be quite okay.
In some parts of the level you drop down and can’t get back up, so if you missed a memory-chip and want to collect them all, you must retry the entire level or sector, depending on any checkpoints you’ve found. Some say this adds replay value, but i disagree. Speaking of replay value; it’s very limited. When you’ve found every chip in the game, there’s not much left to do but to wait for Toy Bot Diaries: Entry 2.

Round-up:

Toy Bot Diaries: Entry 1 is a good example of a game that could be great, but simply isn’t.
Sure, the level-design is good (some obstacles really need some thought before you get past them), but it’s the glitchy controls and repetitive music that prevent this game from being a classic. On the other hand, this is only part 1 in what may become a work-in-progress game-series where every new part contains improvements over its predecessor. If Toy Bot Diaries Entry 2 features the same fun as Entry 1, manages to fix the glitches and offer some variety in music, it might just be the game you want to keep an eye out for!

Verdict:

Graphics:               7/10
Sound:                    6/10
Gameplay:             7/10
Replay Value:       4/10
Score:                    6/10