Angry Birds Go!
Icon from 2016 onwards
Developer(s)Rovio Entertainment
Exient Entertainment
Publisher(s)Rovio Entertainment
Director(s)Jon Gibson
Designer(s)Nic Cusworth
SeriesAngry Birds
EngineXGS (Exient Game Engine)
Platform(s)iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry 10, Apple TV, Amazon Fire
Release (2013-11-15) (2019-07-01)November 15, 2013 – July 1, 2019
(5 years, 7 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Angry Birds Go!, also formatted as Angry Birds Go, was a kart racing game and the eighth game in the Angry Birds video game series. The game was co-developed by Rovio Entertainment and Exient Entertainment, and was released on November 15, 2013.[1] The game was compatible with Hasbro Telepods that will allow the player to summon a specific kart.[2] The game's tracks are located on the 3D-rendered Piggy Island. The game also featured upgradable karts and unique powers for each character.[3]

As of October 2015, Angry Birds Go! has been downloaded over 100 million times.[4] The game stopped receiving major updates from Rovio in 2018, and was removed from the App Store and Google Play in 2019.

Gameplay

In Angry Birds Go!, players can choose how they want to move their kart. If players choose "tilt", they must the tilt the device into the direction they want the kart to move into. If players choose "touch", players must then tap on either the left or right part of the screen to move the kart to the left or right respectively. To start the race, they must pull the kart back from a large slingshot, then release when the "GO!" text appears. If players release it early, all other opponents will also launch early, but the player's kart will spin, slowing it down. Players can collect coins, which resemble Red, the first playable character, while racing. Players can also use a character's special power, depending on the bird or pig they selected to race. But instead of collecting it on the track, they charge up, and be reusable in a race for three gems. The races, however, has no laps whatsoever and when finished with the race one energy unit, originally shown as cupcakes, is lost and is slowly regained with time. When players are not racing, they may use the collected coins to upgrade their kart. This feature is essential on progressing for certain race types may only be repeated if a kart's CC or "Cake Capacity" is high enough, which can be increased by upgrading. Players can also change characters when not racing, for each character has their own unique special power, that can greatly help players on certain race types, and most importantly if the chosen racer is out of energy.

Gems are an in-game currency that is either purchased with real money or slowly gained by competing races. This may be used to buy additional karts.

The July 2015 update added Formula One driver Ayrton Senna to the character roster, he is similar to Chuck and is playable permanently. The update also came with a way to earn Senna's racing helmet in-game by placing in 41 races with Senna; this is the number of races won during Senna's career. [5][unreliable source?] In the 2.0 update he is no longer playable, effectively being removed from the game.

In June 2016, the game was controversially overhauled to version 2.0. Players can race (or visit an ad every few hours) to earn tickets, which can be redeemed to open treasure chests containing coins, gems, and parts. The parts can be used to upgrade karts. Energy was still used to initiate races and is now shared across all characters and recharges with time, watching ads, and/or spending gems.[6]

Race types

There are different types of racing for each of the courses:[7]

In version 1.0, for Race, Time Boom and Fruit Splat races, these can only be played for five rounds with increase in difficulty until all five rounds each are completed, and then players can complete challenges. Each race type except "Versus" has a CC (Cake Capacity, earned from getting upgrades) requirement before you can enter that race type each time. In addition, there is a Jenga mode unlocked either by entering a code from the Angry Birds Jenga toy or with an in-app purchase; this has the racer going down a ramp to smash into blocks and pigs.

In version 2.0, Race, Time Boom, and Fruit Splat are the main types of racing, whereas Versus is available against Boss characters.[6]

Development

On 12 June 2013, developer Rovio Entertainment posted a teaser trailer website showing the character Red speeding into the distance after a "Ready, Set, Go" countdown. The teaser fueled speculation by journalists and fans that the game would be either a racing game or an endless running game.[8][9][10] Rovio decided the kart racing was a good fit due to supply and demand - there were calls on various forums for a mobile karting game.[11]

Angry Birds Go! was one of the first apps released simultaneously on the four major smartphone platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10.[7] This app supports Rovio accounts so players can sync progress between different devices on the same operating system.

In version 2.0, the game was completely redesigned with a new chapter structure. Races can be replayed although rewards for each challenge are given only once. Daily challenges and tournaments involving a selection of active online players trying to accumulate points in a limited time enable players to win tickets, which can be redeemed for upgrade parts, coins, and gems. Coins can also be used to buy upgrade parts.[6]

Telepods

Telepods are figures created by Hasbro that was first used for Angry Birds Star Wars II. It allows you to summon a specific kart, but not the specific racer shown on the toy.[12] The summoned kart works in any track, but not all the karts can be played in every track. If a kart of a locked course is summoned, it will unlock the course, but the only playable race type is the "Versus" mode of the first track (until December 2014, when, after completing Seedway, all episodes are unlocked). When using Telepods, to summon the specific kart it is necessary to scan the QR code each time after the app is fully closed.

In version 2.0, Telepod karts can only be used to play Daily Races.

Multiplayer

Rovio announced on December 13, 2013 that the multiplayer feature will be included in the upcoming Spring 2014 update.[13] After the release of the May 2014 update, multiplayer was partially featured as a "Weekly Tournament", where the player tries to compete in five events against the player's Facebook friends, similar to Angry Birds Friends.

In the July 2014 update, multiplayer was further added within the game. According to Rovio, this is part one of the update. The online multiplayer is asynchronous, thus players are not competing with each other at the same time. However, Rovio hints that part two of their update may contain synchronous online racing.[14] In the November 2014 update, multiplayer features team racing with 3 other racers at the same time, and night racing is an option.[4] In early 2015 update, local multiplayer where players can race each other if they are all using the same Wi-Fi network. It was removed in the 1.13.9 update then re-added in the 2.0 update. Then somehow in 2017, the same year that Rovio closed down production, the tournament game mode stopped working, likely having shut down.

Reception

The game has received mixed reviews, with a Metacritic score of 60/100 based on 24 reviews.[15] The Guardian liked the gameplay and was not overly bothered by the in-app purchases.[7] Tech2 did not like the energy system, which only allows you to play five races with a bird, after which they are locked unless you wait or unlock with crystals (which are slowly earned in-game or with an in-app purchase) and did not like the vehicle upgrade process using in-game currency that is slowly earned by racing or with an in-app purchase for coins.[16]

References

  1. ^ Yam, Marcus (2013-08-28). "Angry Birds Go Will Be Rovio's Kart Racing Game". Tom's Guide. Archived from the original on 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
  2. ^ "Rovio confirms that you'll be able to use Telepods and Jenga toys in Angry Birds Go!". 2013-09-24. Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  3. ^ The Verge (2013-09-30). "Rovio takes on 'Mario Kart' with 'Angry Birds Go'". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  4. ^ a b "Angry Birds Go tops 100 million downloads, adds team multiplayer". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2014-11-18. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  5. ^ Angry Birds GO Ayrton Senna Update Out Now! Archived 2018-09-15 at the Wayback Machine July 2, 2015
  6. ^ a b c "Go! gets a complete overhaul!". Angry Birds. 30 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  7. ^ a b c Stuart Dredge (2013-11-05). "Angry Birds Go! – review | Technology". theguardian.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  8. ^ Knight, Shawn (13 June 2013). "Angry Birds Go! set to race onto the scene by year's end". TechSpot. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013. based on the very brief teaser trailer, it could either be a Temple Run-type game or perhaps a racing title.
  9. ^ Majumdar, Anujeet (13 June 2013). "Rovio's Angry Birds Go! teaser shows new twist to an old favourite". Tech2.in.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013. An animated trailer that the company has released shows the possibility of the newest installation being some sort of a racing game.
  10. ^ Dredge, Stuart (12 June 2013). "Angry Birds Go! set to open new chapter for Rovio's Angry Birds". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013. Angry Birds Go! may be an endless runner, judging by its teaser website
  11. ^ From kart to finish the making of Angry Birds Go Archived 2014-05-24 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ "Review: Angry Birds Go! Toys Extend Telepod's Form and Function". Forbes. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2013-12-16.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Rovio will update Angry Birds Go! with multiplayer in spring 2014". Pocket Gamer. 2013-12-13. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  14. ^ Carter Dotson (2 July 2014). "News 'Angry Birds Go' Gets a Multiplayer Mode in Latest Update". toucharcade.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  15. ^ a b "Angry Birds Go! for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  16. ^ Shunal Doke. "Angry Birds Go's in-app purchases cost as much as a budget smartphone". Tech2.in.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-29. Retrieved 2013-12-02.

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