SASUKE Challenger review

SASUKE Challenger is a game app. by Monster9/Digital 9 based on the Japanese television series, SASUKE. You are a fit man trying to make your way through an obstacle course. You move by tilting your device forward, and navigate through the obstacles by tilting your device forward/backward/left/right, depending on the “target” you are trying to hit. A target range will appear on the screen during certain portions of the course, and you have to tilt your device accordingly. Falling into the blue portion of the range is “excellent”, green is “good”, and red is a “miss”. You also have to watch your stamina levels- if they get too low, you will stop in the middle of the course until your stamina level comes back up. Tilting your device too far forward to propel yourself is one cause for this overheating. You have 170 seconds to complete the first course, called “Sasuke Stage”. If you complete this level, you can advance to the next. This is the only level initially available to play in what the game calls “Survivor Mode”. There are no other modes of play available, however, so basically you have to finish this level to open up any additional ones.

So I passed the first level, and then exited the app. because I had to go do something, and when I opened it again, the next level was not there for me to play. This REALLY upset me, because it took me a while to pass the first level. The fact that Sasuke doesn’t automatically save your spot is a big problem for me. The weirdest part is that in the “Movie Collection” portion of the app., I am able to watch a video of myself completing the first level, listed as “VTR #1”. So it knows that I completed the level, but won’t allow me to move on unless I do so immediately after I’ve finished it.

The graphics are ok- you spend the whole level looking at your guy’s back- the only time he turns around is upon level completion. The rest of the scene is just a red pathway and miscellanous wood and metal structures. Also, I find the movement that the guy does when he is trying to regain stamina extremely weird- he crouches down and swings his arms up and down at his sides untl he’s back to full strength. Who does that?

The only other Sasuke feature is the “Record” section, which shows you your record, your alltime ranking, and your ranking today. Seems like a limited amount of content/features for such an expensive app.

Yes, it’s expensive- $4.99 to be exact. There is no way I would pay five bucks for Sasuke- it’s mildly entertaining, but more frustrating than anything. I can think of many better ways to spend my money. Unless you are a fan of this show and have to have the associated game, I would pass on Sasuke.

Here is a video demo of the SASUKE Challenger app on the iPhone

AppSafari Rating: 2/5

AppSafari review of SASUKE Challenger was written by Tyne Kennedy on April 22nd, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Fun, Games, Physics Based, Sports. Page viewed 5193 times, 3 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.