Spheroids

While Spheroids is relatively fun in its early stages and does the basics well, it ruins itself by adding in too much complexity too quickly without thought. The levels are formulaic, frustrating, and suffer from quite a few glitches and bugs, while the story is almost non-existent, the cutscenes awkward, and the ending abrupt.

Overall, Spheroids can be best described as a game that's uninspired and unimportant at its best and a back alley dumpster fire at its worst.

Spheroids is a platformer that has an interesting idea, but blending two types of games together just doesn’t work well here, since the blend barely feels like a mix and rather just two formats stacked on top of each other. From boring level design, mildly interesting gimmicks and annoying music, this was a game that I ended up quitting out of sheer boredom alone, something that doesn’t really happen often, unfortunately.

Spheroids is only a few hours long, but it's a fun experience that is a blast to play.

Spheroids is a title that dares to reinvent one of the great classics of the eighties like Pang! It's fun and combines quite well its mechanics. You can blame it for its arguable difficulty and for being so short, but if you're looking for an arcade experience, it's a good choice to keep in mind.

For the most part that’s Spheroids biggest problem, it faithfully takes some ideas from a variety of influences (including foreground/background action that specifically feels straight out of Mutant Mudds) but it really doesn’t do anything new with them. The platforming never really feels satisfying or inspired, it just breaks up the arcade Pang! action. Unfortunately, the majority of play inspired by that arcade classic also stays safely within the lines, never really breaking out and doing anything of note to stand out in that area either. While Spheroids offers up a reasonably good experience it never does anything to get out from the shadow of the games that inspired it.

Spheroids is the latest riff in the history of bubble-popping platformers that started with Pang in the late eighties. The central concept is as mindlessly addictive as ever, while the audiovisual update is pleasing to the eyes and ears. Unfortunately the game is let down by being too short and too easy, while some unnecessary platforming gimmicks frustrate more often than they entertain.

Spheroids seems to be done quickly, cheaply and 20 years too late. Yet, it's an enjoyable and relaxing experience. I'd recommend getting it, but only when it's on sale as it costs too much for 6-8 hours of gameplay and poor quality.

You’ll definitely be transported back in time if you used to play any iteration of Pang so many years ago.

For the most part, Spheroids is a fun platformer and Pang hybrid that older and younger gamers will enjoy. Keep in mind that all 8 chapters can be completed in a couple hours, at a cost of $7.99. This game is worth it for gamerscore fans, but I don't see many players coming back after earning all achievements. If you are looking for a unique game that doesn't overstay its welcome, Spheroids might be for you.