Badaboo

BadaBOO! Were you scared? Don't be. Boos are friendly and cute, and you're the equally friendly, although somewhat larger, Bada. Badaboo is esteemed Android game developer Polarbit's seventh game in the Android Market. It deviates from their more traditional 3D games and is more of a dexterity game. Actually it's six similarly themed games in one, but first the basics.

In Badaboo you're the Bada and you'll be using your finger to flick him at the Boo's. That's right... just press down and quickly drag along the touch screen to flick and he'll scoot across the floor, bump into Boos, and they'll go flying every which way. Usually that's how you earn points. Furthermore, Badas and Boos range in three colors and when a Bada hits a Boo it changes color. If all the Boos and the Bada are the same color at the end of a flick then you'll get a nice bonus. So, what are the six games?

• Badaboo - Knock them around, as per the above instructions, to score big points. You get five flicks.
• Bada Marathon - I think you just play as long as you can stand it?
• BadaGolgoth - First, play some BadaBoo... then all the Boos turn into a giant monster that chases you. Run away until the monster blows. Repeat.
• BadaGolf - Knock the Boos into the holes. Some holes are colored and you can only knock like colored Boos into them.
• Survival - Badaboo, but new holes appear after each hit (or, from what I saw, every couple of hits). Don't knock the Boos into the holes.
• BadaTenor - Your Bada sings and the Boos try to annoy him by stepping on stage and singing. Knock them off of the stage.

I get the feeling that Badaboo was designed, but then it was realized after the fact that Badaboo alone wasn't enough of a game so five variants were added. Some of these minigames are ok... others not so much. For example, in Badaboo I found my main tactic being to toss the Bada as hard as I could so it knocked into as much as possible. It didn't give me that feeling of playing pool and making a great shot. BadaGolf offered a similar experience in the early stages, but then when left with a couple Boos it becomes necessary to make some good, accurate shots to drive them into the holes. That was more enjoyable. Survival gets a little interesting once a few holes appear, but I think the game should start with a few holes to avoid my chaotic knocking everything around methodology.

In conclusion, this is a game that's very well done. The graphics are cuteand simple. It has very nice audio and controls that work very well and are in tune with a touch screen device. It also offers leader boards for some competitive play and that includes versus our iPhone brethren. But once all is said and done, this a game that just falls short of making me want to play it more than once or twice. I had high hopes for a Polarbit title, but I guess they can't all be hits even when they are executed this well. 3.5/5 stars for a game that needs more 'game' in it. The game's video from the Polarbit website is below... it shows off the various included minigames.