AiR Monster (エアーモンスター) as it appears in the Japanese App Store) is probably one of the better AR shooters I had a chance to play since I start reviewing ARKit games. This is another app that could easily have gone out of my radar, but I spend a lot of time trying to fish out exactly those type of apps that might be overlooked.
Just to let you know that although the app exists in the US app store, it is in Japanese. You can still play the app, it’s really not complicated understanding what every button does, even without knowing how to read Japanese. I still think it’s just a waste not translating the app into several languages so more users can enjoy it fully. By the way, some of the text is in English, like the zone’s title, the opening, and game over screen, as well as some of the UI elements.
What is AiR Monster?
AiR Monster is a kid-friendly, fast-paced arcade-style shooter where you’ll be shooting cartoon-style monsters floating in mid-air. You have your cannon balls with infinite ammo and a limited number of grenades. The cannon balls are used to hit single targets, whether the grenades are good for eliminating a group of targets at the same time.
You have to watch out from getting hit by projectiles or having a monster getting too close you.
Each level consists of four waves and some levels even have a boss characters which you have to defeat in order to move on to the next one. Upon finishing each level you’ll obtain a 3-star rating based on your performance.
As of the time of writing, the game has the zones: Toy Factory and Fancy Forest, each one consists of 10 stages. There is also a third zone which is not playable yet, the sign says “Coming soon”, so I guess it will be released pretty soon.
The game introduces new monsters in each stage. You get to see which character you’ll be facing and sometimes there is a question mark which means you are about to meet a mysterious unknown character which you haven’t encountered yet. Another cool feature is the monster collection album. As you progress you’ll be collecting new monsters that you come across in an album. You can open the album, see which monsters you found and read a bit more information about each one.(just keep in mind that it’s in Japanese). If you haven’t found all of them, replay the stages to find them. This adds extra replay value to the game.
Let’s take a look at some gameplay!
Here are some screenshots from the game Air Monster.
Gameplay Experience in AR
The gameplay area takes place about 180-degrees in front of the player, however, the bosses can fly 360-degrees around you and even above your head.
I’ve been playing lots of AR shooters in the past two months like Ghosts ‘n Guns AR, ghosthuntAR: Survival, W.AR Augmented Reality, Crazy Monster Strike AR, Alien Invaders AR, Dragon Power Fighter AR, just to name a few. I found AiR Monster (エアーモンスター) to play similar to Ghosts ‘n Guns and ghosthuntAR: Survival.
I really liked having different types of characters that are uniquely identified and each one having its own unique abilities. You can meet the same type of monsters in different stages in the same zone. I found myself prioritizing different monsters that I learned their behavior and I knew they pose a higher risk, therefore had to be taken out before other monsters that pose less risk.
The game plays beautifully in AR. The developer applied a gradient tint to the projected camera stream for each zone. I really liked this idea and there are a few reasons for that. First of all, the tint background color matches the subtle pastel colors of the game’s elements. It makes the characters and UI more visible on screen and prevent distracting background elements with strong contrast to collide or interfere with the overall playful design style.
In some way, it seems to contradict the Augmented Reality representation in which we use the camera feed to show three-dimensional objects as part of the real world. However, although in the screenshots it looks a bit too opaque, it actually blends and fit the overall playful mood of the game.
The developer also used character movement along the z-axis, employed a unique movement to each character and used group-up formations to make the game more immersive in AR.
The boss fights are simple but really nice. This reminds me of the boss fights in Ghosts ‘n Guns AR. In the last level, I was facing two boss creatures flying around me at the same time.
The game also has a nice 3D model representation of each of the zones in the game. You can rotate it and see some of the characters you’ve discovered moving around it. It’s a nice feature that helps materialize and visualize the virtual world you play in and help people correlate with the area of the game which those monsters are coming from.
How difficult is this game?
Let me put it this way. It can definitely be challenging for kids, but not so for adult gamers. Having said that, the last level in the second zone is very hard. I still wasn’t able to complete it. It seems almost impossible to do so. If you are able to finish it, please drop me a line in the comment section below and give me a tip how to finish it.
There is a time limit in each stage. Although it isn’t hard to finish the other levels under the time limit, in the last stage it just seems impossible to finish it under the given time. I tried to finish it like 10 times and always failed,
Graphics and Music
AiR Monster features a very cheerful soundtrack and sound effects which is perfect for this type of shoot’em up arcade style game.
Same goes for the art design. AiR Monster feature calming yet energetic pastel colors that wonderfully compliment the sounds in the game and vice versa.This type of design really put a smile on my face and it promoted a positive atmosphere that enhanced the overall gameplay experience. There is no violence or competitive aspect to the game and therefore it’s suitable for kids as well (rated 4+ on the App Store).
Conclusion
AiR Monster (エアーモンスター) by Orso Inc, is a fantastic kid-friendly arcade shooter. It sports a playful and cheerful gameplay atmosphere, combined with a fun and exciting gameplay experience.
It is one of those ARKit games that turned out better than their many other games in their category. I love the level segmentation, the 3-star rating system (was added just 4 days ago by the way) and the use of different monsters, each one with its own unique design and behavior.
The fast-paced shooting experience feels great. You’ll love tapping your iPhone like mad trying to get read of all those monsters as fast as you can.
I really enjoyed my time with it. As of the time of writing, I still wasn’t able to finish the last level (it’s very challenging). It’s a superb shooter game for kids and teens but it didn’t stop me as an adult to enjoy it as well. In fact, it’s one of the more entertaining and fun ARKit shooters on the App Store.
I do hope that this game will get fully translated into English and other languages so more people will encourage to download it. This is one of those games that I just feel bad that they would go unnoticed because of UI translation and this is why I knew that I had to write a full review and share it with you guys—It’s probably the best shooter games out there for kids, Highly Recommended!
You can download AiR Monster from the App Store here.