Boom It Up! is not an easy app to like. For starters, it looks and moves like some forgotten NES game. The color palette and look of the levels is simplistic in an unflattering way. Meanwhile, the animation seems stilted in some way. There is little in the way of style in Boom It Up! and in a world which has some very stylish games, it makes this title a bit of a hard sell.
Those who can look past the rough exterior will find an interesting game to play, however. Boom It Up! is a sort of vertical platformer where the player helps a cannonball ascend into an endless sky. Some of the cannons you travel through move horizontally across the game space, meaning you’ll have to time your shot perfectly or risk losing a life.
As the player gets deeper into the level, the game expands far beyond simple moving cannons. Soon you’re dealing with flames that will end your life, rubber band platforms that disappear if you stay on them too long and odd levers that propel you in diagonal angles. In short, what starts off a rather mundane game quickly becomes something much more complex.
If players can patiently learn the ins and outs of the various objects in the game and how they interact with the cannonball, they’ll find quite a challenging experience. As a bit of an incentive, the game will also mark your high score progress directly in the level, so you can see when you reach your greatest height.
That’s not to say Boom It Up! is perfect. There’s not much variety here. A second background or some other option to switch up the gameplay would be welcome.
If you’re looking for a free, challenging platform jumping game that’ll test your wits, Boom It Up! is at least worth a look.
