Review
iPhone Game Review: Frenzic
Originally brought out on the Mac platform Frenzic is an addictive puzzle based game brought to you by the guys at IconFactory and ARTIS Software.
In the game you are faced with 6 outer circles and one inner circle. The 6 outer circles are best described as pie charts that are split into 6 segments. Your objective is to fill these segments with a randomly assigned piece that will be one of 3 colours and appear in the center circle on the screen. The idea is to place the assigned piece into one of the outer circles as quickly as possible. Extra bonus points are awarded if you manage to fill one of the outer circles with 6 segments all in the same colour or with as little colour variation as possible. When one of the outer circles is filled, the inner pieces will disappear and you can start again for that particular circle. As you progress the game becomes quicker and quicker, giving you less time to think about where to place your pieces. You can also unlock bonus power ups to help you, which include Nuke, Slow Timer and Double Points.
While I enjoyed the original desktop version of this game, for me, the iPhone version feels so much more natural. This is due to the control system changing from the keyboard or mouse, which at times can be inaccurate, to the touch controls. This allows you to place the assigned pieces much quicker and it just feels like this game was made for the iPhone from the word go. The game performs flawlessly on the iPhone, with nice smooth gameplay and it’s also worth mentioning the game looks fantastic.
Despite there being little variation in the gameplay, coming with only one mode of play, I still feel as though the game life on Frenzic will be long lasting. The game ties in nicely with an online community where you can set up a profile and see other players ranks and scores, which for me game me more of an incentive to play and improve my score. I imagine this will be the same for a lot of other players. Luckily, this community aspect is all free, unlike on the desktop version which requires you to pay a subscription fee, which I can’t say I’m a big fan of.
On the whole, Frenzic is easily one of my favourite games to hit the iPhone so far. They claim the game to be addictive and they couldn’t be more on the button if they tried. The game is quick and easy to pick up, but really takes some time and practice before you start nailing some decent scores and start climbing up the online leader boards. It would perhaps be nice to see some additional gameplay modes in the future, perhaps online duels or something would be a cool addition, but at just £2.99 the game is worth every penny and I highly recommend you give it a whirl.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
