From Pixel Studio comes Azarashi: iOS Review

Written by Colby Sorensen Friday, 13 January 2012 12:00

What does Pixel Studio -- the single-man studio behind the indie sensation Cave Story -- do for an encore?  The answer is Azarashi, a super simple game, out now for the iPod, iPhone and iPad.  In contrast to Cave Story, which hides pretty well the fact that it was made by one man behind it's depth of story and gameplay as well as polished visuals, Azarashi is very plainly a simple production.

You know that classic game of throwing darts at little seals attached to keychains in order to save them from falling? You do know what I'm talking about, right?  Well, if this didn't immediately ring any bells in your memory, then you're probably just like everyone else, but that's exactly what you'll be doing as you strive to set that high score in Azarashi.  Each game of Azarashi has three rounds and in each of the three rounds there are three small seals, alive and well, that are tied up by ropes and then dropped in random order, with random timing, and your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to tap each seal as they fall to toss a dart through their connected keychain ring and halt their fall to peril.  The scoring system rates you on far they fall before you catch them, the shorter their fall, the better.  A total score comes from adding the three scores from the three rounds together and then a medal of sorts is awarded, be it a couple of cans of tuna or perhaps a golden statue of a cat.  As your collection of precious medals increases, new skins for the seals are unlocked, but that's it, that's the total depth of the game.

The total simplicity of the game is actually pretty refreshing, as well as being able to just play, what amounts to a reflex challenge, as many times over and over as you want.  Azarashi is only 99 cents in the AppStore and while it is very shallow, it does release those endorphins gamers search for as they set higher and higher high scores.