Epic Eric Review

Epic Eric falls very much into the category of "seen it before" games. It's a one-touch puzzle/platformer that has stages in which players try to achieve the same goal: reaching the princess. To add challenge, there are three stars that players wanting a challenge can go after. Despite being somewhat of an also-ran, structurally speaking, Epic Eric is a completely competent and fun game.

Playing Epic Eric involves taking control of the game's namesake, who seems only capable of navigating around the world though swinging between rotating gears. At the beginning of any given level, players tap the screen to have Eric jump and grab the starting gear. From there, the game is an exercise in timing taps to get Eric from one gear to the next with the ultimate goal of sliding down a flagpole to rescue a captured princess. As players progress through the game they'll encounter new obstacles and environmental features that alter the simple one-tap gameplay. These features include springpads, ramps, and bumpers, all of which serve to build complexity and keep things somewhat fresh.

Epic Eric is really easy to pick up and play. This is aided by the fact that it has quick restart times for each level and doesn't require a certain number of stars for advancing to the next. So if players have to call a session off short, they can quickly reach the princess to keep their progress intact and then go back later to get a three star rating. Although these features don't seem like a big deal, they make a quick and simple game just that: quick and simple.

Epic Eric contains its fair share of drawbacks, though. For starters, the game's lackadaisical attitude toward earning stars makes getting through every level the game has to offer feel relatively trivial. This, on top of the fact that there isn't really an incentive to earn the stars in the first place, makes Epic Eric feel relatively empty for anyone seeking anything more than a challenge to earn more stars.

At the end of the day, Epic Eric is a totally competent game that puts a slight spin on a very familiar format. It's not particularly challenging or deep, but its fun for what it is and delivers on the gameplay that it promises. It's hard to ask for more than that, although it would help if there were a little more to it.