Let us observe the wily Pangolin by FeedTank in its natural habitat; rolling around giant stone mazes bouncing through the air in exotic lands at the mercy of magical platforms that appear out of thin air in an attempt to nuzzle the magic target at the end of the level. Yes, that’s a crude and simplified way to describe Pangolin, so let’s look into things a bit more thoroughly.
Pangolin describes itself as a unique twist on the platformer where rather than controlling the main character (who is just about the cutest little thing I ever saw, yes he is) the game gives the player their touch screen powers by allowing them to create platforms for the character to bounce off of by placing two fingers on the screen. A platform will appear between that gap, and how strong the bounce off of it is determined by how far apart your fingers are. The closer they are together, the shorter the bounces will be, and farther apart fingers create more powerful bounces to send the character shooting onward.
Each level is littered with clusters of coins along with three gems. Collecting all three gems is Pangolin’s take on the three star system, and there’s also special mention for collecting all of the coins in a level. However, in later levels, simply getting to the end of the stage without collecting the trinkets can prove to be a difficult task as in each level players are only allowed to give the character a limited number of bounces. Once those are gone, the Pangolin decides to uncurl and relax and the player has to start over. Thankfully, Pangolin offers quick level restart by simply swiping the screen towards the right.
So with the intricate spread out stages, the limited number of shots per level, and the titular character balled up and ready to go, Pangolin becomes closer to a rousing game of golf rather a platformer. Granted, a very fun and engaging round of golf that requires careful and precise aiming for those who wish to collect all the rewards in each level. The difficulty in getting everything is high, but very satisfying to pull off.
Over or under shooting is a very easy problem to fall into, and a single bad shot towards the end of a level can ruin an entire run and force a restart, but that’s part of the fun and the challenge of Pangolin.
The level designs are creative have good displays of progression by introducing new elements such as spikes or walls that can be knocked down, and the soundtrack plays nicely in the background in an almost zen like way.
At the time of writing, Pangolin boasts fifty levels, but as a free title, only the first ten can be played without an in-app purchase to unlock the other level pack. At least eighty levels are already teased to be released in the future, giving this game a lot of potential content. Since the game is free to download, There really isn’t a reason not to give this game a chance and see if it gets the ball rolling.
The Good
+Variety in challenges to collect all coins and gems
+The physics of the bounces work well
+Quick and easy restart is good for those tricky stages
The Bad
-Instant Respawn upon death might be nice in future updates
The Verdict
Pangolin is the most quirky, challenging and addictive game of putt-putt I’ve ever played. It’s certainly worth picking up.
Pangolin Review – Physics Platform Putt-Putt
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