Gravity Dash: Endless Runner (iOS) Review

Anyone who's spent any substantial amount of time on the App Store should be able to tell you that Gravity Dash's main gimmick - that is, the ability to change the direction of gravity by double-tapping the screen - is far from unique. In fact, it's been employed in some of the most successful casual gaming exports (see Gravity Guy and Gravity Duck as two particularly well-known examples), so there are big shoes to fill here; unfortunately, this game doesn't quite measure up.

At its heart, it's a basic left-to-right endless runner, with the gravity mechanic allowing the player character to flip between the ceiling and the floor, although with the inclusion of a jump button, this is only necessary for the largest obstacles, cheapening the idea as a whole. The obstacles themselves are also randomly generated, and - although it does lend itself well to replayability - this doesn't always feel well-balanced, with some playthroughs being an absolute breeze and others throwing endless difficult-to-dodge spike pits at the player at a constant rate.

The game's biggest fault, however, is in its control scheme. There's a real lack of polish apparent in how sluggish the controls feel - jumping doesn't feel consistent, and far too often an important double-tap simply doesn't register, ruining a run through no fault of the player. It's not always an issue, but the roughness around the edges turns Gravity Dash from a middle-of-the-road platformer into a game that just doesn't feel very fun to play.

Fortunately, the game is at least well-presented. The pixelated aesthetics may be generic at this point, but they are pleasant to look at, particularly the constantly changing backgrounds. There's also a large number of costumes to unlock for the main character, and most of them are quite fun, although it does admittedly take far too long to accrue enough tokens to purchase them. The freemium model is also unfortunate, although the inclusion of 1,000 credits upon purchasing the ad-free version is a nice touch.

Ultimately, Gravity Dash is a free-to-play curio that may suit those who have exhausted the rest of the App Store's endless supply of runners, but it simply doesn't measure up to some of the more successful picks from that genre. With a little more time in the oven, perhaps this could have been a much more recommendable experience, but as it stands, it just doesn't stand out enough from the crowd.