Back in October of 2008 I wrote my very first game review; Dizzy Bee. It was a seminal title in many ways, as it pioneered inventive use of the accelerometer control that was still being tested by many developers; not all tilt games were good back then but I remember that game standing out. It made the iPod touch feel like a mini PlayStation, and for that reason I was more than happy to award it the site’s highest rating and kick off the iPhone reviews section with a game I thought that people would love to play. The App Store has come a long way since; developers know the iPhone from the inside out, and have all but ironed out the creases. They know what control schemes to use, how to get the most out of the hardware and best of all how to create a compelling game. Now, it’s the iPad’s turn, and as a fairly new piece of kit developers are still learning what interfaces work and what don’t; even though the technology is the same—but more powerful thanks to the A4 chip—the space enables new, innovative ideas. It’s therefore only fair that I kick off iPad reviews in style with another seminal work; Zen Bound 2.

Developers, if you’re going to make an iPad game then listen up; this title is a blueprint for exactly how to create a richly interactive, absorbing and amazing game. There are so many fantastic little features crammed into Zen Bound 2 that on their own are good but when combined together they add up to a superbly crafted experience. You have multiple puzzle save state, in-pause menu playlist creation/game music toggle with sound effect mute and clock/battery indicator plus an interface that can be rotated to be played in four different orientations. The interface is slicker than the first game; with two minimalistic displays, one showing progress and the other showing how much rope you have left. Less is more; gone is the semi-transparent black background for interface elements unless you invoke the pause menu. And the buttons are easy to press as they are all fairly big, making the ease-of-use even stronger. This stuff is important because you shouldn’t have to fight the game’s interface just to play the game!

As Zen Bound 2 is a sequel, you wouldn’t have expected an awful lot to change, just tweaks and refinements and perhaps a new mode or different challenges to undertake. The changes here are much more subtle; you get all of the content from the first game plus additional levels for a grand total over 100, including a special tree of Tribute that includes well known App Store favourites such as Doodle Jump. You also get a few additional types of puzzle; one in which you have to wrap rope around nails stuck into the wood, exploding the paint blob perched on top, and the other in which paint blobs come attached to the rope itself; you have to use careful planning to achieve maximum coverage. Both of these additions don’t dramatically change the gameplay but they make each tree feel much more varied than before.

Onto the gameplay and it’s simply more of the same great stuff. Primarily you’ll still be flicking your finger around the screen to lengthen the rope attached to that wooden shape, but with the larger area and therefore larger object you can see nooks and crannies with greater ease. What is lost from the iPhone (which is by far easier to rotate and hold in odd positions as you control the rope direction with the accelerometer) is gained simply by this larger 1024x768 display. You can still use two fingers to rotate the shape and the three completion flowers (70%, 85%, 99%) return from the first game.

All of the textures, backgrounds and models have been transformed too, thanks to the powerful iPad hardware. Zen Bound was an astoundingly well presented game before and now it’s even more the case. The menu system is elegant and the level select screen is even more astonishing than before with the tags gently dancing around and lanterns emitting an eerie warm glow. The lighting is incredible, again; and the Ghost Monkey soundtrack returns with additional tracks for a playlist that spans 45 minutes.

Zen Bound 2 is one outstanding experience; an evolutionary step from its iPhone counterpart that keeps its originality. Its relaxing, meditative gameplay is unmatched and its atmosphere is second to none. Yes, its more of the same and at £4.99 it may seem a little steep but it isn’t; this is a true gem. Right now, there is nothing else like it.

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More by this developer

Zen Bound, A

Review by Ben Briggs, March 03, 2009

SPiN, A

Review by Ben Briggs, January 03, 2009

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