Game Reviews

Glides review - Another competent but uninspiring iOS flier

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iOS
| Glides
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Glides review - Another competent but uninspiring iOS flier
|
iOS
| Glides

You've played Glides before. Of course, you haven't actually played Glides before. I mean, it's only just come out.

But you've played an awful lot of games just like Glides before.

This is an endless flier that has you tapping the screen to keep your triangle/UFO/football/whatever item you unlocked last airborne for as long as possible.

Flappy rings

The key difference between Glides and the countless Flappy Bird clones out there is essentially window dressing, but it's surprisingly effective.

Rather than fly through punishingly placed gates, you're here dodging much more evenly spaced rocks. Occasionally the odd meteor will come streaking onto the screen with a Jetpack Joyride-like warning.

Your main aim isn't to avoid such obstacles, but rather to fly through sequences of rings. Do so and you'll gain points towards your total score, with multipliers available for successive fly-throughs.

Ring wrangle

It's a system that rewards more than it punishes, which goes a long way to keeping you coming back for another run.

On the other hand, it's not immediately clear what constitutes a clean ring traversal. You only seem to get the points for hitting the very middle of the ring, which is a bit of a pain.

That's pretty much it for the game's mechanics. The rest of the game's appeal lies in its presentation, which is fairly crisp and attractive.

There are a bunch of backgrounds and skins to unlock through play, watching ads, or good old real money. There's a pleasantly twinkly soundtrack.

Friction-free

Absolutely none of this should come as any great surprise to you whatsoever. Glides is the very definition of an also-ran in the endless flier world - albeit a competently executed one.

If you're after another such game, potentially with a slightly more forgiving edge and some nice spacey presentation, it's as safe a bet as any.

If you want to be moved or stimulated or excited by your next mobile game, though... well, choose literally any game we've given a Gold or Silver Award to instead. Simple.

Glides review - Another competent but uninspiring iOS flier

Glides is a competently created, breezily playable yet thoroughly familiar endless flier
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.