Burn, baby burn, disco inferno. This is the song that comes to mind whilst playing Baby Lava Bounce by Jared Bailey. An overly simplistic iOS runner that packs a high octane punch right to the face.
The premise is highly absurd in the strongest sense of the word, and yet the gameplay is very basic, bordering the line of dull. So, does this exceed the title given or is it an overall bust?
What’s Going On
You play as a giant floating baby head that’s on fire. This baby head must remain aflame or else it’s game over. You have 3 different offerings: wind, water, as well as fire, and what these offerings do is somewhat unclear to me.
- The water offering makes you immune to water for a short distance.
- The fire offering makes your fuel take longer to burn out.
- The wind is the offering that’s most unclear to me.
The Gameplay
Gameplay wise, Baby Lava Bounce is overly simple, bordering the line of dull. You just tap the screen to weigh down the baby’s head, Tiny Wings style. Along the way, you must smash things to stay aflame, and if you touch the water you loose a significant amount of fire.
The things you smash are quite bizarre–ranging from cows, cars, trees, humans, satellites, astronauts, whales, boats, asteroids, clouds, as well as the occasional hot air balloon. Some of these aforementioned clouds have rainbows attached to them, and what these rainbows do is grant your giant floating baby head a score multiplier.
Now, since this game is free, there are ads, but these ads can be removed by buying offerings. The IAP ranges from $.99 to $3.00. It’s highly reasonable. With that being said, the in-game shop is quite a beast, and it’s hard to tell what’s going on in said shop. Still, after playing awhile I caught on.
Visuals
Colorful. The visuals are colorful. They don’t look overly fantastic like Tiny Wings, but they get the job done. Not to say that they’re bad by any means–they just look lackluster, to say the least. They are nice, clean, and crisp but, I don’t know, they didn’t do it for me.
Sound/Music
The music, as well as sound, compensate for Baby Lava Bounce in the upmost greatest way. The music, although repetitive, is very catchy and will definitely get stuck inside of that noggin. The sound of the things being crushed is amazing and the slide whistle sound that happens as the baby descends and impacts land is ever so amusing. The sound as well as the music is greatly designed and is a delight to listen to.
Final Verdict
Baby Lava Bounce may be a bit too simplistic for some, but for me, it was just right. The crazy premise is so crazy, it makes the game fun. The art was lackluster for me, but it is crisp and clean. The music, as well as sound, do Baby Lava Bounce great justice.
If somebody were to ask me ‘what are some of the best iOS games?’ I would reply with a ton–and Baby Lava Bounce would be mentioned in my long list of great iOS experiences. Seriously, this game is hoot to play whilst standing in line at the coffee shop, or while you’re bored to tears in school. Bounce your way over to Baby Lava Bounce right now. I dare you.
