Death defying leaps have never been as relaxing as they are in Alto’s Odyssey

July 18, 2018
Coopdojo
Reviews
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Back in 2016 we had the pleasure to try Alto’s Adventure on iOS and called it the “king of endless runners.” It’s taken nearly three years and the king has finally been ousted by its own sequel, Alto’s Odyssey.

“Wow, check out that balloo…. damnit.”

Alto’s Odyssey continues the story of a snowboarder traveling down an endless environment. This time the snowy mountain backdrop has been replaced with impossibly tall sandy dunes of an Egypt-like world. Like its predecessor is a model example of minimalistic gameplay perfectly suited for mobile gaming. You have one button, the touch screen. Typically this shoots your player character in the sky to leap over an incoming rock or over a random chasm. Holding the button down will send your character head over feet into a backflip which if not fully performed will lead to a quick crash. The risk vs. reward of pulling off a stunt like this is that it adds to your velocity enabling you to get more air, survive longer pits, or escape the occasional angry meerkat.

What draws you in though is the beauty and feel of this world. There’s a surreal dynamic score that builds as your run goes on and on. The multilayered background of sweeping vines, occasional hot air balloons, and curious birds can be distracting. It’s obvious the developers were inspired by the serene desert backdrop of PS4’s Journey. The game is challenging but there’s a relaxed feel to the challenge I haven’t experienced since perhaps the birdman levels of Pilotwings 64.

No two runs are the same, but almost all are beautiful.

Easy to play, difficult to master, Alto’s Odyssey will keep you entertained for several hours through unlockables of better boards, new runners, and powerups to extend your run in several ways. Also with the randomly generated environment, weather effects, and multiple biomes we feel like after perhaps a dozen hours we’re still finding new elements of this game. Other big mobile games will come and go, but for now, Alto’s Odyssey will have a permanent place on our mobile device until perhaps Alto’s Exodus arrives.

What works

At it’s best, this tiny experience can be completely captivating in its atmosphere and scenery. Weeks or months later, you’ll still be making new runs to try to top your best scores and rarely sweat when you don’t.

What doesn’t work

We enjoy 99.9% of this game immensely. As the game is procedurally generated it can seem like there are few if any opportunities to pull off important tricks that allow you to gain speed. As there are challenges like pits or aggressive meerkats that require a high top speed to survive, you can at times feel completely robbed when the game doesn’t generate opportunities for you to build your speed to stay alive.