Angry Birds Rio Review

Yet another chapter of by far the best iPhone/smartphone game was release earlier in the week and is unsurprisingly already claiming the top spot for paid apps in the App Store.  In the rare event that your iPhone is broken (probably the only reason you wouldn't have it yet) here's a quick review.

Angry Birds Rio has already capture the top spot in the App Store.

Angry Birds Rio currently provides sixty new levels with at least four more updates scheduled for May through November.  All in all the game is almost exactly the same as past releases with only a few minor differences.  First the graphics, primarily the backgrounds, appear slightly more detailed and refine.  The biggest shift from the previous two games is the absence of pigs.  In the first chapter the pigs are replaced with cages that must be broken open to release captive birdies.  The second chapter features evil monkeys.  They are very similar to the pigs but can scurry to save themselves from a slow slide to imminent death.  

The first 59 levels are just 59 more levels of the Angry Birds you love, albeit, most are quite easy to complete as compared to the other games.  The final level currently available is the gem of Angry Birds Rio and hopefully a sign of things to come.  This level shakes up the game play as it features a boss battle and a new bird.  The new bird is actually two large blue birds handcuffed together.  Touching the screen after the bird is launched causes it to then travel in a nearly perfect horizontal line with very little additional descent.  The boss battle is just your birds (one new, one red, one blue, two yellow, and one egg-dropping bird) against one large, moving tropical bird that takes multiple direct hits to kill.  There aren't any boxes, wood, etc. to get in your way, just raw bird versus bird.  

A hit on the boss of the final stage of the "Jungle Escape" chapter by the new bird.

Overall, Angry Birds Rio is nothing more than additional levels of the same old game with new things to kill instead of pigs.  Only the final level adds newness and excitement to a franchise that's beginning to get a bit tired and repetitive.  As I said above, perhaps this new level is a preview of some innovation coming to future Angry Birds updates.