There have been a ton of Transformer gaming apps in recent years on both Android and iPhone; a few have retired and several are still chugging along.  In anticipation of the new Bumblebee Movie coming out later this year, we have a new game (currently only available through Apple) based on everyone’s favorite little yellow bot in Transformers Bumblebee Overdrive.

Pretty much every app has been based on either the Movieverse or Generation 1.  This is most definitely G1 with a bit of Generations thrown in.  And like G1, this game is 80’s arcade all the way baby!

You start the game as Bumblebee and work your way through 4 main stages over and over, gathering crystals and coins in order to unlock new characters.  Once you reach a certain points level, you then take on a boss character, the defeat of which will unlock new weapons and bonuses within game.

The four main stages consist of Highway, Canyon, another Canyon and Decepticon bases.

Highway

Lots of innofensive traffic which you need to dodge, the only real enemy you encounter and flying Decepticon Drones that fire off missiles, one hit of which can kill.  It is during these highway drives that you can try to earn bonuses from completing events, such as destroying a certain amount of Phone Booths or Fire Hydrants.

 

Canyon – style 1.

Lots of swerving required here.  Surprise spike pits pop up, silver mines are laid about, more flying Missile Drones and as you progress Laser Cannons.  Ironically the main thing you need to avoid are rock columns, crashing into one kills you instantly.

 

Canyon – style 2.

Nothing to crash into here, but you are being pursued!  Here we get some G1 goodness with you being chased by Stunticons  Dead End & Breakdown as well as other G1 Cons Ruckus and Ground Hog.  There is also the Stunticon Offroad from Combiner Wars and Slice(r) from Timelines thrown in.  Taking out these other cars is probably the easiest of the levels, though as it gets harder sometimes you find ones parked in your way as you fight the others.

 

Decepticon Bases

Here is the only part of the game where you get to fight as robot mode and a plethora of different dangers get in your way.  Laser Canons in different configurations, barriers both physical and electric and purple flying Conheads who resemble the same ones found in Transformers: Devestation.  These levels are also the ones were you get to test out the different weapons you have unlocked by defeating bosses, in particular I like the laser beam you get for defeating Acid Storm.

 

Bosses

Nearly all G1 based (apart from Generations Battleslash) and they are a lot of fun!  You only get to fight these when you have reached a certain amount of points.  In the classic 80’s arcade style, these bosses throw different energy weapon patterns at you and as long as you avoid the obvious patterns the bosses are easy to defeat.  Quite an enjoyable part of the game, it’s a shame that they come along so rarely.

 

Character Unlocks

You start as Bumblebee and, much like any toy isle you go down, the easiest other character to get is another version of Bumblebee, this one resembling in part his look from TF: AOE.  The other characters to get at this stage are Sideswipe, Arcee and Optimus – Optimus requiring a whopping 500 crystals!  When you obtain a character you use your coins to increase their armor and firepower, then use crystals to ungrade them to the next level to start all over again.  I just got Arcee this morning and she is quite fun in robot mode since she has two guns, which means double the firepower when you use the upgrades like lasers and homing missiles.

 

In-Game Purchases

What app doesn’t have these.  Personally I’d never buy even the cheap ones but maybe there is someone out there willing to spend over a hundred bucks on the big pack.

 

Is the game worth playing?

In short doses yes.  It’s lots of fun!  In big doses no.  Your finger gets tired after a while and to be honest when I was most of the way to the points total for Battleslash I was hoping I would crash as I had had my fill.  Also despite the minor variations you get each run through, having only 4 stages to work through over and over again gets understandingly repetitive.

Will I still be playing this game in a months time?

I doubt it.  I’ll unlocked Arcee a few hours ago but no way could I be bothered saving enough crystals for Optimus.  Also as mentioned before, the amount of points you need to gain increases exponentially to reach bosses.  The first three (Tracer, Quake and Acid Storm) are not too onerous but then suddenly you find Battlelslash to be a whopping 256,000 points and that takes forever to reach.

So should you download it?

If you are a TF fan sure, why not!  It’s a bit of cheesy 80’s arcade fun but it really doesn’t have anything to keep you there for the long haul.

 

Got something to say about this App?  Put it in the comments section below!