Game Reviews

Amigo Pancho

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iOS
| Amigo Pancho
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Amigo Pancho
|
iOS
| Amigo Pancho

Pancho is a rather stereotypical Mexican - poncho, sombrero, moustache, and all - with a very modern problem.

He has numerous globe-hopping appointments to meet, including a party in Texas, a spa visit in Siberia, and a date in Mongolia, but seemingly no means to get to any of them.

Give the man two extremely potent helium balloons and some benevolent hand-of-God assistance, however, and you have... a pretty convoluted setup for an undoubtedly entertaining casual physics-puzzler.

Two pops and you're out

Each single-screen level simply requires you to ensure safe passage for Pancho as he floats up from the bottom of the screen.

There are numerous traps, enemies, and obstacles lying in his way, ranging from spike-firing cacti and irate bees to powerful extraction fans and cannons. It's a pretty eclectic mix.

Some of these objects harm Pancho directly, but most of the time it's the two balloons that you need to protect. If both are popped, he drops to his doom.

You can interact with various level elements, from pushing a screen in front of a rocket launcher to directly digging out a route through a portion of soil.

Glorious mess

All in all, Amigo Pancho looks and plays like a mish-mash of elements from a number of established puzzlers - a bit of Where's My Water? here, a smidgen of Rolando (remember that?) there.

Curiously, though, it all works together quite nicely. It's simply a very satisfying game to play, with dependable physics, varied level design, and accomplished controls.

In fact, it's a little too smooth for its own good. We waltzed our way through all three worlds in no longer than an hour and a half, and with very little opposition.

It's incredibly easy, and we only used the limited 'Super Pancho' free pass power-up for the first time after all of the levels were completed, just to see what it did.

Still, the time we did spend with the game, while brief, was thoroughly enjoyable. We weren't bored once, which is more than can be said for an alarming number of iOS games that pass through our hands.

Amigo Pancho is derivative, unfocused, and way too easy, but it has two vital ingredients in spades - fun and polish. These two shiny attributes are enough to carry the game up, up, and away into the realm of respectability.

Amigo Pancho

Amigo Pancho is an entertaining if slight mixture of familiar physics-puzzler elements. It's a thoroughly pleasant casual treat
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.