Quick Android Game Review: RunnersHigh

Hey folks! Today, I am going to review “RunnersHigh” by “Alarm Clock Snoozers”, a “fast paced runner game”, that competes with other representatives of the genre like the extremely successful “Line Runner” or Playandroid’s insider tip for 2012: “Imbalanced“.

So what’s the difference between “RunnersHigh” and its competitors? To answer this question, we should firstly take a look at the feature list: “RunnersHigh” comes along with an extremely greedy dinosaur, getting driven on by a tasty haunch and slowed down by a few obstacles, that get in its way: spider webs, that entangle our ancient friend and flames, that light a stick of dynamite under the dino butt.

Compared to the minimalistic look of “Imbalanced” and the doodle style of “Line Runner”, “RunnersHigh” is definitely the prettiest of them three and its more inspiring to play a hungry dinosaur than a stick man or a sketched worm. The music goes straight forward and I like the jungle style of the game and the overall “Jurassic Park” feeling.

Unfortunately, there is one issue, that looks minor at first sight, but has a huge impact on the game: the jumping animation. Whereas the “Imbalanced worm” jumps smoothly and flowy and even wider, if you keep on pressing the touchscreen, the “RunnersHigh Dino” just jerks like a clunky marionette. This is extremely annoying, especially because this game is all about jumping (and running). The usability and ultimately the fun suffer a lot from this.

It’s a pity, that there’s another side of the coin in every category: Although the graphics are more detailed than in comparable games, the foreground (therefore the main) graphics aren’t as handsome as the background graphics. The sound effects are suitable for this game, but the electronic music corrupts the jungle feeling. The controls are simple, but they aren’t easy, and so forth and so on.

What’s left to say? This game, especially regarding the great scenario and the funny dinosaur, has got a lot of potential. More than that: It’s on the verge of a breakthrough. If the developers alter the jumping animation, the bottle neck will break and the fun will explode! So dear”Alarm Clock Snoozers”: Please rub the sleep out of your eyes and polish your undiscovered gem!

Reviewed by Frederik Schrader