Monty Python's Cow Tossing

It's telling that the best part of Monty Python's Cow Tossing is the brief introductory clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which French militiamen hurl a heifer onto a band of English relic seekers.

It also happens to be the most original thing about this decidedly lacklustre take on Angry Birds. While the concept fits well with the cheeky theme, the gameplay is homogeneous and uninspired.

Monty Python's Cow Tossing is mediocrity defined, neither amazing with its so-so gameplay nor offending with its minor technical issues.

Fan service

Simply put, the game puts a Monty Python wrap on the bird-throwing gameplay of Angry Birds. You fling animals at Englishmen situated on the opposite side of the screen inside contraptions built out of concrete, wood, and other materials. Popping every Englishmen completes a level, at which point you're whisked to the next level until you run through all 80.

Funny quotes from the movie appear in bubbles over the characters, infusing the game with the same silly charm. The graphics nicely replicate the Monty Python look with an odd combination of muted colours and pencil drawings. Even though the technical performance lags - stuttering was noted on a freshly started iPhone 4 - the presentation deserves recognition.

But the problem is that the lag affects gameplay - which, when considered independently of the game's technical issues, is unexciting.

Bring out your dead

The lack of enthusiasm stems primarily from the game's borrowed design. From the level design to the controls to the different attacks - one bird can be split into three with a timed tap of the screen, for example - there's little unique about the gameplay. You've played this game before.

Launching a big cow at a bunch of Englishmen is different from flinging a parrot at some pigs, yet the difference is superficial. At its core, there's nothing to distinguish Monty Python's Cow Tossing from Angry Birds, let alone to hail it as a better game.

The appearance of random items that descend from the top of the screen serves as a unique feature, but there's no explanation why these objects are in the game and they seem more like obstacles than point bonuses.

Faithfulness to the franchise earns the game credibility, despite its inability to provide worthwhile gameplay. Building on the work of others is often the way to create an interesting game, but Monty Python's Cow Tossing regurgitates a formula without adding anything to make it better.

Monty Python's Cow Tossing

Monty Python's Cow Tossing is a mediocre physics puzzle game that earns more points for style than substance
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.