Review: Tango Chase Arcade-Style iOS Game

You may already be familiar with Herotopia, the online game that lets kids create their very own superhero and fight bullies in a kid-safe virtual world. The creators have branched out with their first iOS game for iPad and iPhone based around one of the game’s popular sidekicks, Tango the orangutan. Tango Chase is a bit like a reverse Donkey Kong. Instead of Donkey Kong stealing Mario’s girlfriend, poor little Tango has his sweetheart stolen by an evil super-villain. It’s his mission to find a way to get her back by sliding down vines and collecting jewels and bananas instead of climbing up and jumping over barrels like good old Mario.

Tango is controlled by a combination of multi-directional tilt controls and fingers swipes to drop him straight down from one platform to the next. It’s a fun challenge to make him slide along far enough to collect all the bonuses but not so far that he slides off the end so you fail the level. Points are awarded depending on how many bonuses you collect on your way and you’re awarded from 1-3 bananas as a measure of your skills.

The game is fun and entertaining and provides a challenge without becoming frustrating for kids. It’ll keep them busy waiting or while on a car trip. Mine, who are 8 and 10, got a real kick out of trying to get the highest score and seeing who got stuck where so they could try and beat each other. There’s also really cute jungle music that had the two of them dancing across the living room without making me want to run and cover my ears.

All together, there are 70 increasingly difficult levels of gameplay. Players need to avoid things like spiked platforms and snakes while trying to catch bigger and better bonuses like power ups and rare gems. The graphics are not complex, but it’s still a fun and engaging game for kids, and did I mention this is a free app? Check out the in-game video below and then head to the iTunes store where you can download Tango Chase for free!