Leap: Endless Run like its name suggests is an endless runner iOS game. This game is played in normal mode but also features an AR mode as well.
The Normal mode has much richer environment compared to the AR mode with obstacles like fire, moving bars and other types of unique obstacles that you won’t find in the AR mode, or at least I haven’t had a chance to come across ones like these so far. In the normal mode, you get to see them from the very start.
Anyways, I am here to talk about the AR mode, which is the mode I was interested in playing and reviewing in this post.
Simple to Learn, Very Hard to Master
Leap Endless Run falls into the category of games that are very easy to learn but very hard to master. In this list you can find games like Flappy Bird, Tappy Bieber, Real Bird: Tap to Fly, Capeman, Fly Birsh and many others.
Leap: Endless Run isn’t an Auto-runner game, which means the character doesn’t automatically move forward, it’s controlled by the player. It doesn’t mean that sometimes you have to react quickly, but the character won’t move unless you tell it to move.
The goal of the game is to try to get the highest score possible but jumping from one platform to the other.So it plays more like a non-Automatic endless runner platformer game. This game is all about timing, nothing more. All you have to do is to tap the screen so the character jumps from one platform to the other. The problem is that the platforms are moving from one side to the other. Some of them are small, others are larger and they can vary in speed.
When I first start playing the game, I just couldn’t pass the 10 jumps, I was so bad. This game takes a lot of patience and dedication if you want to star in the global leaderboard. To make it more interesting, the developer added a set of achievements that players can achieve as they learn to master the skills required to master the game. Furthermore, there is a large selection of character you can choose from, but those characters can only be unlocked using 50 coins. Those coins are scattered on different platforms and you get them by jumping on that platforms that contain the coins.
The fun of this games lies in its very high difficulty. You just don’t want to give up, you want to become better and better and it can turn into an addiction sometimes. It becomes even more addicting when there are a lot of players playing the game and you want to prove to your friends and the world who is the best in that game.
I am not a big fan of those games and I get bored with them very quickly, but I can understand why many players do like them. Don’t get me wrong, iI had some good moments in this game. I failed to hang on over 1 minute. Even when I thought that my concentration is at its peak, I always found myself doing stupid mistakes. After playing like 20 minutes, I got warm and started to get the hang of it and I just start jumping fluently from one platform to the other.
From that moment the game has entered a different pace and I start getting into the rhythm needed. I was more accurate and had much better reaction times. I remember the same thing happening to me in the game Battlefield Hardline, I was really bad in the multiplayer, but after playing for an hour straight, my reaction time got better and I was able to get in there and clean up all the players without even dying once. The same goes with this game, you need to play it a few minutes straight, not giving up, until your reaction time and hand-eye coordination nailed it right.
Specific AR Mode Remarks
I personally like the Normal mode better because it has more type of obstacles. The AR mode was easier to use and more fun to view because the level was much larger. Even as an AR game, I found myself just sitting on the couch and just playing it from a single angle, so it wasn’t really that exciting.
Still, the core of the game is built around its very simple gameplay mechanic that everyone can understand and play. It throws away all the sophistication and asks you just to try to jump as many platforms as possible. It sounds simple, but it’s definitely not.
I like the ability to rotate the level, but the rotation is very rough and only rotates the level in 90 degrees. I personally would have preferred a free movement and rotation option and also an option to resize the level, because it really doesn’t matter which size you play it, as long as it’s comfortable for the player to play in AR where he or she is at.
It’s not an exciting game to play in AR but it’s still fun and addictive nonetheless.
Conclusion
Leap Endless Run AR mode plays well in AR. If you are a fan of those hard endless runner games you will definitely enjoy this game as well. That being said, there is nothing special playing a game like this in Augmented Reality (AR) and in fact, the AR mode looks much less exciting than the Normal mode of this game.
I would recommend this game to those who love challenging games and have a passion for those type of endless runner games. I think that the AR mode is a nice addition to the game. I liked that the character turns when it reaches the end and now faces the other directions a good AR adaptation. However, overall the AR mode didn’t impress me but I don’t think a lot can be done to improve it, the core of the game is what it is.
P.S.: The game allows you to record your gameplay so you can share a video of your highest score with friends. There are a total of 28 unlockable characters.