The mobile market is full of casual games because they do not focus on much thinking or skill and are after creating an enjoyable and smooth experience for the user. Regarding that many people own smartphones but not many of them are gamers, developers move toward more casual products so they expand the possible scope of their audience and catch as many eyes as available. Yet, there are still some developers that prefer old-school and wholesome products for mobile; games that fit the basic standards and have exact rules and mechanics like the earlier projects of the industry. Today, we review a Persian video game with such features.
Ritbon is developed by Lexip Games and published for both android and PC. Bazinegar reviewed the android version 2.9 on Café Bazar. Ritbon has two mobile versions and its ESRA is +7. The main character is called Ritbon. While he is playing with his toy-pet bear, it falls into the underground water tank. The hero follows his friend. The water tank turns into a vast underground city with many floors and doors. Ritbon now has to find the keys to all the doors and find his toy pet. Gameplay is based on platforming and the side-view along with 2D graphics support the mechanics. At first, Ritbon can only jump but as he proceeds he learns other moves, and the platforming challenges evolve as well. The basic rule of gameplay in Ritbon: adjust your jumps.
The More the Jump, the More the Death
How much you jump depends on how long you press your finger on the screen. The biggest challenge in Ritbon is finding the best height and length for the jump. Also, you need to keep an eye on the timer and health counter. If the timer reaches zero, you have to restart from the checkpoint; If you run out of hearts, you will have to start from square one. It is recommended that you turn on all the assist modes before the start because there are lots of repetitions in Ritbon. In fact, the game was designed to be played with the assist modes. Also, all the floors are connected to each other, meaning that you need to keep searching and going back to previous areas. Overall, nothing is much of a challenge because the game is very short.
It Is Not Just the Pixel Art
Graphics are beautiful, tuned, and quite standard for an indie. There is so much color in Ritbon, even the monsters are colorful! Textures are high quality and the mixture with colors made a wonderful cocktail. Fonts and menus also look good. The peak of visuals in this game is the main character with a stylish haircut and sporty clothing, along with the cool grin and different animations for different moves. Also, some of the monsters have very characteristic faces with subtle details. There are no visual problems in Ritbon, except one boss that seems to be a scaled version of one of the enemies.
Dream-like Singing Of the Exotic Birds
The sound in Ritbon is like the singing of the exotic birds inhabiting the eastern side of the Amazon river during the period between February to April! The sound design is awesome. First, there is voice acting for the minimal cast of characters. All the dialogues in Ritbon do not add up to more than a paragraph, yet they are narrated by professional voice actors. There are also original soundtracks for each floor and an ending track for the credits. Remember, all tracks are modeled on classic and old-school video games.
2 in 2 equals 4
Ritbon is free to play but if you want to see the ending sooner, easier, and with less damage to your nerves or cellphone, you need to buy the assist modes. But it only takes one payment and you have the package forever; no need to recharge. Also, there are no ads whatsoever! It is almost impossible to finish the game without the helping package. In fact, Ritbon’s gameplay has been designed specifically for motivating in-game purchases.
Ritbon has no inherent fault or error. Problems such as lack of a unified version and weak advertisement damaged the current state of the game but they are external. Bazinegar recommends Ritbon to anyone that owns a cellphone. Remember, you need to be patient and fond of challenge and repetition. If you are among those who think old platformers were the real ones, you can experience the same feeling now, on mobile.
Version Reviwed: 2.9
Download Now