App Review No. 43 Cut the Rope

Strong Points:
Lots of content
Nice cartoony graphics
Good soundtrack
Good physics
A variety of levels
Great replay value
All mechanics are explained to you when you get to them

Weak Points:
Superpowers are very expensive and are required to 100% the game
Last season is only unlockable when you have 3 starred everything else (no longer a problem as of version 2.4.1)
Can get frustrating

In-depth Review:

Release Date:
World Wide: 4 October, 2010

Controls:
In-game tutorial explains everything

Cut the Rope has always been a good game. The premise of it is that, for some reason, a little green monster called Om Nom has arrived on some random person's door in a box ranging from cardboard to cheese and is demanding candy. What's the only logical solution? Create a series of complicated ropes and then cut them in order to get the candy to Om Nom. What? Just pick the candy up? Too easy.

To sate Om Nom's insatiable appetite, you will have to travel through the aforementioned boxes in order to feed the little green creature and collect the stars. The stars are what present the challenge. While it is relatively easy to get the candy to Om Nom, collecting the stars as well can be quite difficult. This is due to them generally being put next to spikes or the edges of the box (go outside of the box for too long and the candy is lost forever (pick it up from the floor?).

To help or hinder you along your epic journey to get the candy to Om Nom are a number of items. The first of these are the titular ropes which are simply there to cut and swing from. The next are bubbles which let you float upwards until you pop them (be careful not to float to far). Then it ranges from spiders, pulleys, bees and a myriad of other things. The ropes even change as well; make one taut and you can fire the candy with more power than ever before.

Next up are the superpowers. These should really be called cheaterpower or better yet the moneytakerpower. This superpower is telekinesis and it lets you detect a hidden star in levels as well as push the candy in order to get it to Om Nom or save it from the edges of the box or even to get it to the stars. The main problem with this is that you only start with three of these and to get some more you have to spend £1.49. This is annoying as, due to the extra star, to 100% this game completely you'll have to spend money to get these powers.

But you'll be hard pressed to complete all the levels anyway. This is simply due to the sheer volume of them. 3 seasons, 15 boxes, 25 levels and 3/4 stars in each level is a lot. However, you do have to three star all of seasons 1 and 2 in order to unlock season 3 (no longer a problem as of version 2.4.1). Then you've got the special Om Nom drawings to find as well. There really is a lot of content in this game.

Overall, Cut the Rope is a great game with loads of content and great levels. As well as candy, donuts and cupcakes which always help.

Rating: 90%

Goodbye for now, Harry

Update: Om Nom may be asleep but the developers at Chillingo certainly aren't! Use the lamp to illuminate the stars and wake Om Nom up from his dreams of candy so that he can eat some real (well, virtual) candy with the new Pillow Box level pack! And if you get stuck then you can try out the new hints button!

Update: the gears turn and the conveyor belt starts to move. Down comes the meanest box of them all - the Mechanical Box! And inside? The conveyor element and 25 new levels!