JUNKIE GAME IS FOR DOPAMINE JUNKIES
Also for: Android, iPad, iPhone, Linux, Macintosh, Nintendo Switch,
Playstation 3, PS Vita, tvOS, Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox One
If there was a game in my collection I wish I could just erase from existence
it would be King Oddball. Every time I scroll through my digital PS4
library for something new to play, this abominable game character wags his
provocative tongue in my face, souring my mood quite a bit. I cannot exactly
explain why, but I genuinely hate his design.
He's the anti-hero of one of those numerous low-budget games I never asked for. It came with the Playstation Plus subscription one fateful month to appease the Playstation Vita owners. This was back when Sony still pretended to care for their handheld device.
It's an addictive but poisonous mobile affair that inexplicably was converted to home consoles. You control it with the use of one single controller button (except at the world map which you navigate with the d-pad). The limbless King Oddball invades some hapless country by throwing rocks with his ever-wagging tongue. Press 'X' on the controller at the right moment of the pendular arc to release the rock. Then hope that the force, gravity and aim will work in your favor to crush all resistance for that stage.
If it sounds familiar, it could be because it's an Angry Birds ripoff. It was even created by fellow Finnish developers 10tons Ltd. Would you look at that - they branded their studio in a way that ensures them first spot in alphabetical searches. They've mentioned that the game is inspired by the 1974 sci-fi movie Zardoz, which depicted a stone head terrorizing a post-apocalyptic Earth. Another source of inspiration is Microsoft oddball Steve Ballmer. You know, this guy:
You start every level with three rocks, and the opposition consists of a few tanks, helicopters or soldiers. Some of them are out in the open, some cower behind objects of varying destructibility. If but one of the (mostly) immobile enemy units escapes your throws you must replay the stage. If you crush three enemies or more with one stone's throw you get a bonus stone. This is also true if the stone hits King Oddball himself on the rebound.
Is this a game? Well, I suppose it is. It has levels aplenty. They get progressively harder. Graphics - it has them. Sounds - it has them. They serve a purpose. There's even some kind of a tune, some kind of tortuous melodic loop, composed by a mercenary musician who hired a quintet to record some instruments live. It perfectly captures the sensation of having an ugly invader wagging his tongue in your face an entire game through.
Although I raged, cursing the game's unfair reliance on the luck of rebounds, I got intensely hooked until I beat it in a single prolonged session. That took me roughly five hours. It was agonizing, but I just wanted it done, because I knew I would never return. And after all, winning any level was just a stone's throw away.
In hindsight, I cannot support this game, because of what it does to you. It's a game deliberately crafted to pull you in deep and spit you out, your feathers ruffled, bereft a handful of hours of productivity. It's like eating a jumbo bag of potato chips - although you like the taste initially, you've had enough long before you're done eating. The rest is appeasing some carnal drive to see it through, since your brain can't stand seeing leftovers and wants to store some energy for worse days to come. You know it's unhealthy, but you keep on gobbling it up.
He's the anti-hero of one of those numerous low-budget games I never asked for. It came with the Playstation Plus subscription one fateful month to appease the Playstation Vita owners. This was back when Sony still pretended to care for their handheld device.
It's an addictive but poisonous mobile affair that inexplicably was converted to home consoles. You control it with the use of one single controller button (except at the world map which you navigate with the d-pad). The limbless King Oddball invades some hapless country by throwing rocks with his ever-wagging tongue. Press 'X' on the controller at the right moment of the pendular arc to release the rock. Then hope that the force, gravity and aim will work in your favor to crush all resistance for that stage.
If it sounds familiar, it could be because it's an Angry Birds ripoff. It was even created by fellow Finnish developers 10tons Ltd. Would you look at that - they branded their studio in a way that ensures them first spot in alphabetical searches. They've mentioned that the game is inspired by the 1974 sci-fi movie Zardoz, which depicted a stone head terrorizing a post-apocalyptic Earth. Another source of inspiration is Microsoft oddball Steve Ballmer. You know, this guy:
You start every level with three rocks, and the opposition consists of a few tanks, helicopters or soldiers. Some of them are out in the open, some cower behind objects of varying destructibility. If but one of the (mostly) immobile enemy units escapes your throws you must replay the stage. If you crush three enemies or more with one stone's throw you get a bonus stone. This is also true if the stone hits King Oddball himself on the rebound.
Is this a game? Well, I suppose it is. It has levels aplenty. They get progressively harder. Graphics - it has them. Sounds - it has them. They serve a purpose. There's even some kind of a tune, some kind of tortuous melodic loop, composed by a mercenary musician who hired a quintet to record some instruments live. It perfectly captures the sensation of having an ugly invader wagging his tongue in your face an entire game through.
Although I raged, cursing the game's unfair reliance on the luck of rebounds, I got intensely hooked until I beat it in a single prolonged session. That took me roughly five hours. It was agonizing, but I just wanted it done, because I knew I would never return. And after all, winning any level was just a stone's throw away.
In hindsight, I cannot support this game, because of what it does to you. It's a game deliberately crafted to pull you in deep and spit you out, your feathers ruffled, bereft a handful of hours of productivity. It's like eating a jumbo bag of potato chips - although you like the taste initially, you've had enough long before you're done eating. The rest is appeasing some carnal drive to see it through, since your brain can't stand seeing leftovers and wants to store some energy for worse days to come. You know it's unhealthy, but you keep on gobbling it up.
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