Cosmic Bump iPad Review

Cosmic Bump reminds us of Cut the Rope. No big surprise, since both games were published by Chillingo. Except in this case, you don't feed candy to some cute lizard creature. Instead, a few adorable aliens have crash-landed on Earth, and it's your mission through a variety of physics-based puzzles to send them home. The result is a game that'll seem instantly familiar to Om Nom fans, but also manages to stand on its own, despite one annoying flaw.

Each stage has a specific number of energy cells you must collect to move on, with the goal to gather them with as few aliens as possible to earn up to three stars. You do this by pulling back on a cannon located on the bottom of the screen and then releasing to propel the extraterrestrials skyward. What makes the game interesting are the different elements that come into play, from UFOs that tractor beam an alien and move back and forth across the screen, giving you the chance to make a strategic drop, to fans that blow in specific directions and also pinball flippers. Even portals factor into the experience.

By and large, Cosmic Bump has plenty to like. Intuitive controls make this title instantly accessible to all ages, while the inclusion of six different worlds (with more on the way), offer plenty of bang for just $0.99. Sure, it treads on familiar ground, but newcomers will be too busy sling-shooting aliens to care.

Unfortunately, the game's biggest issue, while not a deal breaker, is quite bothersome. Several times, we watched helplessly as an alien was about to roll off an edge, only to slowly roll in the opposite direction, where it remained until we were forced to restart the puzzle from the beginning. It also appears that the game doesn't take advantage of the new iPad or iPhone 4/4S' Retina display.

At least on the positive side, the aforementioned problem doesn't happen often enough to ruin Cosmic Bump, and the game's all the better for that. It may not be the most original app, but if you enjoy a good puzzler, be sure to look in its direction.

Download Cosmic Bump (iOS)