Airport Mania Review
Last month saw the release of some highly anticipated games in addition to the normal fare and I think that in the excitement, there are a few games that got overlooked when they really shouldn't have.
Last month saw the release of some highly anticipated games in addition to the normal fare and I think that in the excitement, there are a few games that got overlooked when they really shouldn't have.
One of these games is "Airport Mania." When I first saw it, I thought it was "Just another time management game." I couldn’t be more wrong! Sure, Airport Mania follows the time management model but I can honestly say that I found this to be a lot more fun than some of the recent sequels we've seen to older, more popular TM games.
First of all, the gameplay is challenging! In Airport Mania, your job is to make sure all your planes land and take off as efficiently as possible. You need to coordinate landings, assign planes to the correct gates (for bonuses) take care of maintenance, get those planes back in the air and keep everyone happy (something that's getting harder and harder in the real world!)
Sure, it doesn’t sound that different from most TM games but the makers of Airport Mania really have a hit on their hands thanks to several different factors:
- The graphics are adorable! The artist responsible for this game did a very good job with the design of all the different planes (it kind of reminds me of Pixar's "Cars").
- The music and sound effects are pleasant. I love all the sing-song noises the happy planes make!
- There are plenty of awards and achievements to be had. Best of all, the awards room will give you clues in the form of riddles to help you achieve any missing awards without just giving it away. After all, what’s the point in that?
- There are PLENTY of hidden surprises! As you play the game, you learn that every level has a hidden surprise or "Easter Egg" in the background. These little treats don't necessarily give you any bonus but they sure are fun to discover! For Example: On level three, clicking on the bar/cafe brings up a little dialog that pays homage to one of the more popular TM games, "Diner Dash!" It’s just nice to see that these programmers have definitely done their homework!
- There are many upgrades available. In fact, there are so many that I actually haven't been able to "buy n' try" them all!
- There is definitely a level of difficulty to this game! The makers even reveal in the hints section that it is virtually impossible to achieve an expert score on every level! Now, I don't know if that's true or not but I can say that I'm having a LOT of fun trying to figure that out.