Alto’s Odyssey review: If meditation was a game
Alto’s adventure made its debut on iOS in 2015 and on Android in 2016 and was an immediate success. The game was a benchmark in endless runners and showed people how far we’ve come in the genre. The game was applauded for its fantastically composed music and the impressive “Zen mode”, which basically was the game form of meditation. So, is the Alto’s Odyssey any good, or is it just a rehashed version of its predecessor, Alto’s Adventure? We find out in our Alto’s Odyssey review.
The game’s developer Snowman teased the next game would come out in 2018 and here we are. The game was released for iOS in around February and for Android a week ago, on July 25th.
So, while the first one was the protagonists and his friends’ adventure in the snow, is now set in the beautifully serene desert. The concept of snowboarding is the same and at first glance, you just might think that it is just a desert skin atop of Alto’s Adventure, but it’s a lot more.
The graphics essentially remain the same, which isn’t a bad thing because they were great just the way they were. The music has been re thought of, which is impressive and the music in this game is just so good.
Imagine it being so good that the game suggests you to plug your headphones in for the best experience, just like the first one. The idea basically remains the same, you sandboard across the desert, playing as Alto or his friends and avoid obstacles and performing some tricks along the way.
The controls are the same, the way of doing tricks and the basic idea of the sandboarding remains the same. The difference is in the details, if you care or play enough to notice.
Sure, there will be 180 levels each containing some task to perform to level up, but that really didn’t have to change right? Although, this time I felt that doing backflips was a little tougher to do, at least while playing as Alto, Maya, the second character is a little slow to start, but she does backflips relatively easier, making her my character of choice.
An obstacle like the elder makes a return, though I won’t spoil it for you. Although I will say that he stays for a lot lesser time than he did in Adventure.
The game retains the Zen mode, which is basically let’s you take Alto as far as you can without the fear of dying. As soon as he takes a hit, you can tap and you’re back in the game.
The Zen mode is the best thing about the game according to me. It makes you relaxed with the pleasant music and takes off frustration of losing by eliminating the chance of that happening. If you decide to play the game, you should definitely check the Zen mode out.
There are also additions such as storms in the game, which make the experience a little better. The background of the desert also changes from morning, evening and night. I personally loved the evening setting of the game, which looks beautiful.
So this was our Alto’s Odyssey review. Reaching the verdict of the game, I’d say if you’ve liked Alto’s Adventure, you might love the changes in Odyssey and I don’t think you need enough reasons to download the game.
However, if you didn’t like the original or just don’t care enough, you might be disappointed at what the sequel does to make things better. It might look like a rehashed version of the original, but Alto’s Odyssey is so much more and I recommend checking the game out.
