Star Ride is a fun and elegant game in which a joy ride through the night sky is fueled by the glorious power of stars. The game takes you away to a peaceful setting through its hand drawn graphics and calming music. It is a unique game and one that doesn't require a huge time investment. It's best played in short intervals. However, I could see someone trying religiously to beat their latest high score.
The game starts with your character in a nice meadow with a tree and stars falling towards the earth. It is the calm before the storm. Jumping towards the stars, your character zooms upward into the darkness. Nice visuals and sounds fill the screen as you gain more speed with every star touched. The burst of speed is invigorating.
At first the flights are slow and calculated. As your ability to maneuver the flier increases, so does the speed at which you travel. Hitting stars in succession gives your soaring daredevil a huge speed bonus. The stars give off a nice ring in varying tones when struck so the possibility to create a midnight symphony is very real.
The controls are simple to learn and straight forward. You double tap to jump your star rider into the night sky. From what I can tell, the placement of the stars are randomly generated with each game giving you a unique and challenging experience with every flight. To hit the next star you simply drag your finger parallel with its location to send your rider in that direction. If you miss a star and run out of star power, the character falls back toward the earth and peaceful meadow.
There is a high score list specific to the device as well as an internet high score list with results from around the world. Another neat feature is the ability to set score tags. With score tags people can create a private and personalized high score list with friends from the office, school, or internet.
Star Ride is a fun and rewarding game with a unique style and appearance. The hand drawn graphics are high quality and give the game loads of charm. The sounds are captivating and soothing. With all the cookie cutter Apps in the Store, Star Ride is a nice burst of fresh energy. If you like carefully crafted games with nice feel and pick up and play ability, Star Ride is a must have.
