More Bloons

Much to the delight of the growing Bloons fan community, developer Ninja Kiwi released its sequel More Bloons in April 2007, just one month after they released the original Bloons game. The premise of the sequel is the same in that it consists of a chimpanzee who throws darts at balloons to pop them in levels of increasing toughness. However, the developers promise loads of new, tougher levels with more in the way of dart innovations so as to improve the game's enjoyment quotient. Here are the key aspects of the game:

Main Game Play

Quite simply, it's tough. Especially for someone who hasn't played the game before. In fact, it is actually recommended that you play the first Bloons game before you get cracking on this one, because this one hardly allows you to get the much-needed initiation period that the first game offered.

Stratospheric levels of toughness aside, there is hardly any change in the actual gameplay. It's the same chimpanzee throwing the same darts at balloons of the same color with the same number of levels (50) to complete the game. Now, this might seem like an indictment, but this works in the game's favor because its USP is the complexity woven in its simplicity. The one addition is of course the glorious "lightsaber" balloon, which will definitely appeal to all Star Wars fans, a demographic that is also known as "every gamer ever".

Some of the levels really are complex, though. In fact, compared to the first game, with the notable exception of Level 18, titled "Tumbledown", which can be completed with one good dart through the middle that doesn't touch any of the ice balloons, most of them are extremely complex. Levels 30, 46 and 47, titled "Zig", "Tin Box" and "Unsure" respectively, are scary beyond the norm for this game simply because of how accurate you need to be with your darts.

For "Zig", the strategy is pretty straightforward. Take out the first mine balloon, then fire into the zig-zag to take out the central pin. It's the level of precision you need to do both of these that makes it hard. First, you need to fire straight up, as straight as possible, to take out the mines, and then fire right into the bouncy wall at the precise downward angle so that it bounces, passes right through the center of the opposing wall right into the pin balloon to take out every balloon in there. Any less and you won't cross the threshold.

"Tin Box" requires you to be so accurate that your success is predicated more on your luck and less on skill. This one requires you to hit the lightsaber with the first dart, hit the boomerang balloon with the second and then fire the boomerang at the precise upward angle that will allow it take out all but two balloons in the best case scenario. After that, you need to fire a dart at an even tougher angle to take out the last balloon and secure the win. A second too fast or too late or even a twitch in the angle and the boomerang won't work as it is supposed to.

"Unsure" or Level 47 is the toughest of the lot, and also the most rewarding. You start by firing straight at the bomb right in front of the chimp, followed by an arcing shot right through the central bomb, after which comes the pivotal moment of the game. This move requires you to aim at the left side of the right bouncy surface such that it bounces downward right into the middle of the central bumper and then bounces up to hit the right of the left bouncy wall and further bounces to hit the bomb in the middle of the right bumper. If that doesn't sound crazy enough, this must be done such that it hits the pin balloon on top of the central bumper while hitting all three of those walls. This is easily the most frustrating and therefore the best shot in the game. The last shot is routine (as anything would be after this), requiring you to cut down the last two balloons left.

Visuals & Sound

Same as Bloons. No changes at all, as it should be, for the most part.

To sum things up

For a game requiring such a high level of precision, the aiming mechanism still has glitches, although much improved from the first Bloons version. Otherwise, this game does what it sets out to do, which is to satisfy every gamer who was addicted to the Bloons game by providing bigger and better challenges while not complicating the gameplay unnecessarily. A truly worthy addition to the Bloons franchise.