Hell Yeah! Pocket Inferno Review

You may have previously played through the adventures of Ash, the Rabbit Prince of the Underworld in the XBLA, PSN and PC game Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit however the mobile version of the game brings a completely different experience, so what more could this iOS version bring to the party? Shall we get this started then? HELL YEAH!

Gameplay
Normally we’d begin by dissecting the game’s story in order to give you some background information but alas, being an iOS title there's no story to be found. If you was expecting a console game port then prepare to be disappointed, as this version is stripped down to the bare bones. That's not to say it's a bad game though!

Hell Yeah Pocket Inferno plays very well as a iPhone game, with Ash auto moving from left to right, controls are simple, either tap the left side of the screen to hover, or the right side to shoot. Sounds easy enough but once you start to progress through the game, the difficulty rises from the wide open pathways, into more narrow gaps and spike traps and enemies make appearances. Once you get into the later half of the game, stages start splitting into multiple pathways to navigate, all the while the pace of the levels increases, giving you less time to react to oncoming scenarios. You also die in one hit so there's no room for error! This ultimately comes down to you having to memorise some of the layouts in order to beat stages but quick restarts and short levels means this isn't too much hassle and the feeling you get from perfecting a stage is pretty good.

Killing a new enemy for the first time offers up a card for you to collect which is added to your Monster Index, on the console version this offered up a management mini game to farm more items for you, however in this version, a gallery is presented to you so you can look at the beasts and get some information on them.

Hell can only have one boss bunny.

Design
The game features 5 different Worlds, with each World containing 10 stages. Each stage in the game has 3 challenges for you to compete against, such as don't fire your weapon, defeat a boss in a set time limit, kill so many enemies, find the bonus stage or take a different exit at the end of the level. The game also uses Game Centre for tracking achievements and leaderboards so you can battle against your friends scores.

Every world also has it's own unique boss that you must fight several times during the 10 stages. The first battle against the boss will just be you chasing it while trying to shoot it down, the second and third time you duel, the boss will use different attack patterns. The final time you face them, they will throw all the different styles of attacks at you and it's down to you to memorise their patterns in order to avoid being hit while still damaging them. Once you end the final showdown, you can finally kill the enemy. World progression is not gated to defeating bosses though, later stages are unlocked by the number of challenges you have completed, so going back into early stages to beat more of the challenges you've missed out on will prove vital.

Collectable items in the game, which look like small glowing coins shaped like rabbit heads (there's a theme here, can you spot it?) count as currency which you use to unlock more content. Using the shop on the main menu, you can buy different hats and blade wheels which are then used to customise Ash, and with the vast amount of options at your disposal, you can give Ash a really unique look. You can also buy upgrades for your gun so you can shoot through different coloured blocks in the main game. These feature in some of the earlier stages so once you've unlocked the higher power guns, you'll be able to take those alternative routes. The game also has microtransactions, so if you want to skip the earning part and buy all your upgrades, you can do that too but everything in the game can be unlocked just by playing through the missions.

Which way do I go again?

Graphics
With all of the assets from the original game ripped straight to this one, the game looks pretty amazing. The original artwork is highly detailed and has a unique style to its animations and overall aesthetic. Even the sound track is the same. The only new thing here is the vehicle Ash now rides, rather than just the jetpack saw blade, Ash now sits on a motorbike with the saw blade acting as the rear wheel. The graphics don't really push the system but visually, I really like the art style.

When things get too hectic, wear a piggy hat!

Final Verdict
Compared to it's console cousin, this game may seem shallow at first glance, but on a phone, this is a perfect mobile experience. Simple controls make it easy to drop into but with enough challenge to make it worth sticking with. Play a couple of levels while you're not busy and get a few challenges done. Gameplay is simplistic and playing several levels in one sitting can become a bit tedious after a while so it's best played in short bursts, probably when you're sitting on the toilet...just like most mobile games.

Gameplay = 8/10
Graphics = 9/10
Design = 7/10

Final We Know Gamers Score = 8/10
Had a chance to play the game? Tell us what you thought in the comments section below!

Hell Yeah! Pocket Inferno Review
Reviewed by Zero
on Mar 13 2013

Rating: 8/10