‘Gorilla Gondola’ Review for iOS

Gorilla Gondola is an action-puzzle game that comes to us from Electric Pixel Factory, an independent U.K. developer composed of a handful of guys. The premise behind their debut mobile game is certainly one-of-a-kind.

You play as a lovable Silverback Gorilla who rides atop a Ski Gondola while trying to collect bananas and dodge obstacles. The Gondola is attached to a cable and the screen auto-scrolls from left to right, placing hazards in your path and ultimately leading to a flag at the end of the level. Upon completion you’re briefly graded on your performance and then whisked along to the next “phase” of the area.

The control scheme makes full use of the iPhone / iPad’s capabilities. Swiping upward causes your Gorilla to jump and swiping down causes him to stomp, knocking the Gondola down with him. Tilting the device to the left or right leans him in that direction, a useful technique for dodging various obstacles. A brief tutorial at the start of the game teaches the basics and after a few minutes I had the hang of it.

Much of the gameplay here is momentum based with your Gorilla needing precise jumps or dips to avoid bombs, stalactites, or whatever menace the game throws at you. In an effort to make things easier, random powerups appear that can be collected giving the Gorilla temporary ability boosts like a banana-collecting magnet, or invincibility.

There are eight different locations, each with around 6 “phases” or levels. Unlike many other games, new locations don’t just automatically open up after completing the previous one. In order to unlock new areas you must first complete a set of specified objectives in the existing locations, things like Collect 5,000 bananas total or Clear 15 obstacles in a row without crashing. This leads to replaying earlier locations multiple times in order to advance. While this may initially seem annoying, it’s made tolerable by perhaps the coolest element of Gorilla Gondola, it’s random level generator. Levels are broken into “chunks” that are randomly inserted, creating spontaneous moments that the developer promises will ensure that “no two play throughs are the same”.

Each area introduces a new wrinkle to the gameplay in the form of additional obstacles you must contend with. For instance, “agitated birds” will charge at you, air currents will change your trajectory, and lasers will instantly fry you unless disabled. This variation on the primary theme keeps things fresh long into the game.

The worlds themselves are composed of hand painted, multilayered masterpieces with detailed objects appearing in the foreground and background. I often found myself doing double-takes at the crazy things I saw fly across the screen like floating cows and ice cream cones. The environments are very diverse and over the course of the game you’ll encounter snow-covered mountain peaks, an Egyptian Desert, and even outer space. They look particularly vibrant on the iPad.

My only moments of frustration came when dying and reaching the Game Over screen. You can’t restart from the phase you were last on when you died, instead restarting at the very beginning of that location. The worlds are fun and relatively short so it’s not the end of the world, but I would have liked to pick up where I left off.

I would be remiss not to mention the soundtrack as it’s truly exceptional. The songs are filled with synthesizers and pounding drums giving the music an 80’s New Wave vibe. A disembodied voice that sounds remarkably like the “Bejeweled guy” hilariously punctuates the tunes with phrases like “Do It!”, “Oh Yeah!” and “Smooth”. You can’t help but smile.

Gorilla Gondola is a fast, mesmerizing action-puzzler among the best on the iOS. Skill and reflexes are definitely required as there’s never a moment when a million things aren’t happening at once. It’s worth experiencing just for the beautiful visuals and soundtrack alone.

It’s hard to believe this is Electric Pixel Factory’s first outing as it’s extremely polished. We can expect big things from them in the future.