AirBear isn’t so much of a line drawing game as a fast paced arcade title that is reminiscent of a previously reviewed game—Karuki, which is a game that has you rescuing your friends and hording jewels scattered across the levels. Origin8’s latest, however has a more ragdoll physics feel, and incorporates some free falling levels as well.

The premise is very simple. The game has two modes; endless and homeward bound. Initially, the Skyscraper level is the only endless option available, but will be unlocked upon receiving jigsaw pieces from the latter mode. By collecting these pieces you will unlock upward and downward variants of five different scenarios, as well as unlocking OpenFeint achievements along the way.

On the upward levels the game plays like the aforementioned Karuki, whereupon you draw a line to serve as a platform that bounces your panda skywards. Too long and it becomes weak and only serves to slow you down slightly before snapping, so you can’t simply draw lines the width of the screen. And on the downward levels you simply free fall and hope that you land in the bulls eye at the bottom; though you can make use of a propeller hat that slows your descent.

In both upward and downward levels on the homeward mode, the rest of the gameplay is almost identical save for the direction of travel. You collect bamboo rings for points and try to make it to the end without getting blown up by the various bombs scattered around the level. Each hit blows off a limb so, comically, it can be possible to end the level as just a panda head looking sorry for itself. And on the endless mode it differs slightly in that the skyscraper level forces you to catch the bamboo rings to replenish your supply of platforms, whereas the well level gives you an infinite propeller hat—the key to beating this is to free fall for a few seconds and then turn on the hat so that you don’t fall into the water that’s constantly dropping.

Control is straightforward. On upward levels you are just drawing the platforms with a finger swipe, and on downward levels you toggle the hat by tapping the panda, and also can move upwards by swiping your finger underneath to create a draft of wind. All levels also give you the ability to tilt the panda across the screen, which is fairly imprecise. What did you expect, to be able to control a panda in the air with precision? Still, it would be nicer if it was less realistic and more cartoon-like in its execution.

Certainly, the graphics and sound really flow well together on the device and create an enjoyable mood. Including several different settings helps to keep the game feeling fresh, especially as the gameplay is simple and easy to pick up and play. You can see it from the video we’ve included in the post, and it looks even better up close and personal.

On balance, AirBear is a fun game that is presented very well. Sure, it can be very easy too—we had it beat in under two hours, but it’s that kind of simple fun that you need when you’re tired from taxing your brain all day.

Media gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

More by this developer

Robot Rampage, B

Review by Ben Briggs, February 15, 2010

Space Station: Frontier, B

Review by Ben Briggs, January 04, 2010

BioSub, C

Review by Tom Grimes, October 07, 2009

MonsterKill, B

Review by Tom Grimes, September 20, 2009

Sentinel, B

Review by Ben Briggs, March 22, 2009

Why not try...

---

• 

  geoSpark

• 

  Ramp Champ

• 

  MUST.EAT.BIRDS

• 

  Poppi