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Replica Island review

Damien McFerran

We review Replica Island, a 2D platformer for Android

Replica Island for Android

Published on Apr 28, 2010

Back in the days of the 16-bit Mega Drive and Super Nintendo video game mascots were a sure-fire way of selling software.

Sonic and Mario fought it out for years to achieve world domination and by the time the dust had settled both characters were arguably as famous – if not more so - as Disney’s Mickey Mouse.

These days home consoles are more about realistic experiences and outside of Nintendo’s family-friendly Wii these once-proud cartoon mascots have been relegated to supporting roles.

Thankfully for Android fans, the tradition is continuing for a little bit longer with the release of Replica Island, a 2D platform epic which not only calls to mind the retro classics of yesteryear but also features a robot who looks a lot like Android mascot Andy (albeit in an unofficial capacity, but we’re guessing that Google isn’t that bothered).

Typically, Replica Island is buttressed by a light-weight but entertaining storyline. You must guide the cute Andy look-alike about the titular island in a quest to discover a mysterious power known as The Source.

Along the way you’ll be expected to collect crystals, use your boosters to reach high platforms and perform Super Mario-style stomps on passing enemies.

While it all seems simple enough there’s actuallly quite a clever plotline behind all the light-hearted mirth.

In fact the game’s narrative is made up of “memory” sections which the malfunctioning robot protagonist is desperately trying to piece back together.

Controlling your on-screen avatar is a matter of using your phone’s track-ball or D-pad. Jumping is handled by an on-screen button and stomping – which can only be done when you’re in mid-air – by another button.

In addition to these talents your robot can also fly for brief periods of time by holding down the jump button. This allows you to reach high sections of each level and is an essential part of navigating each stage, but your boosters run dry fairly swiftly so a good sense of timing is required.

What’s more, holding down the stomp button when you’re on the ground charges up a special orb which allows you to take control of enemy cyborgs.

This skill is instrumental in getting past the many puzzles which bar your progress; for example, you can blow up obstacles by detonating a rival robot next to them.

Replica Island displays an impressive amount of polish for what is essentially a low budget, bedroom-coded game; the levels are colourful and call to mind the eye-catching environments of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.

The gameplay is also hugely enjoyable and the fact that the game function on any phone with Android 1.5 or above means that everyone is able to have a go, and in this age of frustrating firmware fragmentation that counts for quite a lot.

There are some niggles, though. Using the trackball to move your character around isn’t ideal, and we often found that during intense platforming sections our finger accidentally slipped off the trackball and touched the adjacent home button, which naturally closes the game.

Thankfully it saves your current location, so it’s not a complete deal-breaker. The developer is clearly aware of this and has enabled tilt-control in a recent update, but it’s still in a very experimental stage at present.

It’s also rather disappointing that there’s no musical accompaniment during play; the sound effects are punchy enough but one can’t help but feel such a colourful game would greatly benefit from an equally up-beat soundtrack. Again, this is something that may be added in the future.

When you consider that this game is being offered for nothing it’s hard to think of a valid reason not to download it instantly. It’s a real pleasure to play despite the occasional hiccups and it’s also an Android exclusive.

You really have nothing to lose by giving this a spin and if projects like this gain support we could see more old-school action titles making their way to the Android Market.