Bloons 2 Spring Fling

Bloons 2 Spring Fling is the next game in the Bloons franchise, released in April 2011 by NinjaKiwi as a spring-themed game. This game features 48 brand new levels plus two additional secret levels, taking the entire number of levels to 50, that are designed according to the spring theme as well, with spring themed music and graphic skins. Here are some of the main features of the game:

Main Game Play

Here's the lowdown on this one: Bloons as a game series has started tiring. No matter how polished the graphics get or how soothing the music is, the USP of the Bloons series has always been the incredibly simplistic yet challenging gameplay. The way it would get 4 or 5 small things in a level to make it a challenge that involved luck, skill, awareness and strategy was what had kept the game going through close to ten follow-ups and a five part tower defense series that is also incredibly popular. There is a simple reason behind Bloons having been played over a billion times: its simplicity.

Complexity of challenges combined with the overall simple experience was what made the original Bloons games so special. Bloons 2 removed the simplicity, which is understandable as it might have been because of a desire to keep up with the times. Bloons 2 Spring Fling removes even the challenge. You're now left with a series of challenges more mindless than the previous one, all in an effort to adapt the levels to resemble spring themes or probably something to that effect. The strategy that you needed to complete a level has been diluted greatly, so while the accuracy required is still reasonably high, you'll spend more time plain old aiming and shooting than thinking about where to aim and shoot. And the rest of the time you can just get the bees or the planes do the job for you. In other words, this is like the antithesis to culture of insanity which Bloons has cultivated in previous editions.

The only level that is even slightly tough is level 43, called "Spring TD". To start this one, fire the first dart at the rose balloon straight above the monkey as soon as the two floating flower balloons align with it such that the dart passes through all 3 and then passes through the rose balloon up top as well. This dart will also take out some other balloons when it falls down. Fire the next dart at the new rose-shaped balloon patterns straight above but make sure that the floating balloon is aligned with it so it passes through all 3 and even 4 if it goes through the corresponding balloon on the upper side. This dart will also take out some balloons when it comes back to the ground. After this, just fire randomly at the floating balloons with a slightly straight angle so that they can pop balloons on the way down as well and you should be fine.

Yes, that is the highest level of skill this game requires. Although to be fair to the game it is almost completely bug-free, so that does improve the gaming experience somewhat. Of course you can't help but wish for the occasional glitch so that you have a real hard time for once. This game will have most Bloons fans wishing for a decent level, and that is a line most reviewers would never have even dreamt of typing.

You know what's worse than a Bloons game that is unchallenging? The Mochi Store. It has started to become an annoyance now. Most fans of Bloons started playing and therefore loving the game because it was freely available on the internet. Mochi Coins ensure that the game is no longer free or equal for all, and this more than anything else might be the thing that is pushing players away from playing the recent Bloons games. The developers have missed multiple tricks with this one.

Visuals & Sound

The graphics are similarly streamlined as they were in the Christmas Expansion pack, but this time there is a much greater emphasis on flowers in the level and Bloon designs and the background consists of a green grassy field.

Audio consists of a serene tune running in the background which is certainly a nice touch. But what with the whole game making you long for the original Bloons days, you do eventually grow annoyed at the music and that's where the mute button comes in.

To sum things up

The developers need to pull up their socks on this one or Bloons will soon be consigned to the history books. And while they do that, they need to ditch the Mochi store and stop trying to fix what worked perfectly for so long. If they do manage to do this, Bloons as a series is still salvageable. All in all, this game is terrible if you're a Bloons fan and not much of a notch on Bloons 2. If not, you will like this game, but beware, nothing as easy as this game will ever come your way again.

Play Bloons 2 Spring Fling now at Ninjakiwi.