BeaverTap Games, the studio behind the popular platformer Mikey Shorts, has today released a second game, Mikey Hooks.
Mikey Hooks incorporates the platform-style gameplay of Mikey Shorts, but adds an intuitive grappling hook mechanic. As with the previous game, the goal is to get through each level as quickly as possible to earn three stars, which often means multiple plays of every stage to learn the ins and outs of enemy and obstacle locations.
In addition to 36 challenging stages to complete, the game incorporates a number of unlockable character items, secondary goals, and a dedicated race mode that allows players to compete against AI ghosts.
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Our sister site TouchArcade has published a first look at Mikey Hooks, and called it the "no-brainer download of the week."
If you played Mikey Shorts last year, things will feel mighty familiar in Mikey Hooks. Obviously the big change is the ability to swing from parts of a level using a grappling hook, but this mechanic has been implemented so well it almost feels like it's always been there.
Besides the fundamental changes of hooking and damage, Mikey Hooks is still all about the levels. Perfectly timed jumps, slides and now hooks will lead you towards victory and a 3-star completion time. Also, don't forget about collecting every coin and the hidden golden shorts on each level, and in place of the previous game's Challenge levels there's now Racing levels which include AI ghosts to race against.
The game includes both iCade and Joypad support, along with iCloud saves and Game Center achievements and leaderboards. Mikey Hooks is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for $1.99. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
I wrote a post on Mikey Hooks on the iOS blog because it's an excellent platformer (a rare find in a sea of thousands of games) and I thought maybe other folks on MacRumors might enjoy it as well. I used to review games before I wrote for MacRumors, and my only goal with this post was to share an awesome game.
I've noted that it isn't the type of content you guys want to see on MacRumors, which I'll keep in mind for the future.
MacRumors, TouchArcade, and AppShopper were all founded by Arnold Kim. He occasionally cross-promotes between these sites, which is his prerogative. They're all excellent sites, I recommend checking them out.
Mikey Shorts is unique in that it was actually started by two guys who met on the TouchArcade forums who had a passion for gaming. One was more of a developer, the other more of a designer. The community over at TouchArcade had a huge influence on the production of the game, the testing, and supporting the developer and designer through the process. The Mikey Shorts game itself is one of the best platformers on iOSand it all began on TouchArcade. It's a great story of a community coming together to make something better than the big boys. I'll be downloading this new game when I get home tonight!