One of the most beautiful and mystical things in the world is getting to see the Aurora Borealis in person. With all it’s swirling colors and other worldly feeling there just isn’t another experience quite like it.
In the world of video games unique and beautiful experiences are increasing hard to come by as well however Amazing Games is attempting to do just that by providing a game of beauty with their own flare of originality mixed in with the release of Northern Lights HD for the iPad.
Northern Lights HD is a puzzle based game built around the Aurora Borealis that can be seen in the northern hemisphere. These beautiful, mystical and dizzying displays of light server as the backdrop for the game which reminds me of a creative mix between Peggle and Brick Breaker.
In Northern Lights the objective of the game is to collect all the pink dots on the screen before your power drain. To accomplish this you must navigate your ball around varying obstacles scattered throughout the games increasingly challenging levels.
In one regard the game plays very much like a Peggle clone albeit with you controlling the arch, speed, and direction of the balls trajectory. To play a user swipes upwards from the bottom of the screen towards the pink balls. You will notice that there are other colored balls on the screen as well. Each of these other balls has a different property assigned to them. Some provide additional scoring bonuses while others will propel or trap your ball.
In the higher levels new and dangerous obstacles will be presented that will push and pull your ball off it’s path or in the case of a black hole simple swallow your ball whole.
The second game this reminds me of is Block Breaker. In that game as well as Northern Lights you will want to get get your ball above the obstacles to allow your ball to ricochet above the obstacles thus generating additional points and clearing out larger sections of the board at a time.
As you progress you will gain the ability to fire a laser shot. These shots are activated by holding down on the swipe section of the board for a few seconds until your laser is activated. Once activated you can direct the laser and when you remove your finger anything in it’s path will be destroyed. However activating the laser will consume massive amounts of your power bar so use it sparingly.
As you complete levels you will unlock additional levels and gain the ability to re-play previously completed single levels to improve your score at anytime from the main menu. The game does have a light story attached which helps drive you to complete additional levels trying to understand the universe, but it’s clearly not gone with the wind material here.
While Northern Lights HD brings together a unique and beautiful Peggle like experience it ultimately doesn’t quite have the same magical feeling that Peggle does. Please don’t take that to mean that I don’t think the game isn’t worth your time because I honestly feel fans of Peggle and Brick Breaker style games will really enjoy their time with Northern Lights HD considering it’s the closest thing to Peggle currently available for the iPad.
WOW really cool, looks pretty decent nice video touch at the end Glenn