Game Reviews

Heads Up! Hot Dogs

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iOS
| Heads Up! Hot Dogs
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Heads Up! Hot Dogs
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iOS
| Heads Up! Hot Dogs

Adult Swim Games has made a name for itself by creating whacky, simple to play, and incredibly addictive iOS games. With a series of flicks and slides, they've carved a brilliant niche that many have tried to copy, but few have managed to match.

While the premise of Heads Up! Hot Dogs might out-strange most of its predecessors, and indeed pretty much everything else on the App Store, it still manages to continue the studio's run of compelling, playable arcade blasts.

It's still good

The game takes place in small areas of a variety of cities. Pedestrians wander in from the left and right of the screen, some jogging, some striding and full of purpose, others meandering.

All the while, hot dogs rain from the sky, flopping down onto the ground. It's your job to lift these delectable combinations of meat byproduct and bread onto the heads of the people who are walking past.

If a hot dog stays on the ground for too long - violating that most sacred of all foodstuff bylaws, the three-second rule - it's counted as lost, and you lose a life. Lose five and it's Game Over. From there your score is totted up and you start all over again.

Score well enough and you'll unlock the next city. Different cities introduce different types of pedestrians. Cops will shoot hot dogs, and happy-looking hipsters will cough up extra lives if you rub their tummies.

Mustard with that?

It all makes for a frantic experience. Even hot dogs positioned perfectly in the centre of a head can be jostled to the floor by the stop-start nature of some of the walkers. It doesn't take too long for you to be juggling the snacks, trying to make sure as many of them get off the screen as possible.

Throw in different foods that give you huge points boosts, and environmental hazards like subway vents and heavy winds, and the package takes on a delicious flavour that belies its snacky subject matter.

If you've enjoyed the other Adult Swim titles, then Heads Up! Hot Dogs is going to be right up your alley. If not, it's worth a shot, but you might find this bizarre game even more off-putting than the others.

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Heads Up! Hot Dogs

Just as compulsive as its other titles, Heads Up! Hot Dogs is another entertaining, weird game from the Adult Swim stable
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.