iPhone App Review: Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise

Name: Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise (iTunes)
Written By: ZIO Interactive, Inc
Category: Games
Price: $4.99 $2.99

Size: 47.0 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

“Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise” is such a treat for Hello Kitty and Sanrio fans! All of the favorite Sanrio characters such as My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Keroppi, Pochacco, Cinnamoroll and Corocorokuririn make special appearances along with Hello Kitty in the game.

“Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise” has two modes of gaming — Parachute Game and My Room Showcase. Both modes interact with each other, so you’ll find yourself switching back and forth after each stage.

The main objective is to help guide Hello Kitty downward with her parachute. In each level of the parachute game mode, you catapult Hello Kitty as high as you can. The higher Hello Kitty jumps, the more points are earned. When she starts gliding down, tilt the iPhone/iPod touch to help her parachute to safety. Collect apples and bonus items along the way, but be careful of the dangerous obstacles!

Be sure to collect plenty of apples to maintain Hello Kitty’s parachute power. The apples are similar to health points in other games. As long as her parachute power is not as zero, you can still parachute safely down and collect items. Bonus items include Hello Kitty’s friends, toys, cute items, decorations, and various backgrounds and flooring. These can all be use to decorate Hello Kitty’s room in the My Room Showcase mode.

There are 9 exciting stages total. Four must be unlocked from scoring high on previous stages. Clicking once on each stage will display the “Item Tracker.” The bright items are the ones you have already collected and the darken items are ones you have not.

All items collected in the Parachute game are stored in the My Room Showcase inventory. In the My Room Showcase mode, you can select the items you want to decorate Hello Kitty’s room. The 3D graphics used here are quite beautiful. There are so many items to collect in the game that you may find your room cluttered with cuteness!

There are two modes in My Room Showcase — showcase and design. You can toggle between the two by clicking on the hand icon in the top right. In design mode, you can touch and drag items to where you want them displayed. Let go of them item to drop it in place. To add more items, click on Menu -> Inventory. There are 60 items that can be collected throughout the game. Items that you collected will be bright. Items you have in your showcase will be highlighted in pink. Select items to be added in your showcase by tapping on them. A maximum of 20 items can be in the showcase at any one time, and only one background and one floor can be displayed.

Be sure to create stylish scenes, take a screenshot, and share them! The camera icon in the lower right corner will help you with this. Click on it, and tap the middle of the screen when you’re ready. This will take a photo of Hello Kitty’s room and save it to your camera roll. Six different songs are also available when viewing the Showcase mode. To access them, click on Menu -> Settings, and select the song. You may also adjust the volume of the music and effects here as well.

As an added bonus, if you score high enough in the Parachute games, you can unlock an extra “Sky High” mini-game. The object of this mini-game is to make Hello Kitty jump as high as you can. I don’t find this mini-game very addicting at all. You are scored only on the height of the jump, so it feels like a stripped down version of the Parachute game. A better mini-game might be an endless mode where Hello Kitty collects apples and bonus items. Once her parachute runs out of power, the mini game is over, and the score is calculated by how many items she picked up. Maybe this can be in the next version.

Overall, I’m quite impressed with “Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise.” The gameplay is really fun, challenging, and provides endless hours of playing. I’m also quite impressed with the game’s responsiveness to the tilt and touch of the user. The 3D graphics used in the showcase room are lovely, and girls will find themselves creating many variations of Hello Kitty’s room.

One small drawback to the game is that it does not respond to the Ring/Silent Switch on the iPhone. You must manually silent the game using the volume buttons.

For future developments, I’d like to see this game be more social. It could have an option to upload the screenshots and/or be part of the OpenFeint or Plus+ social game networks.

Every Hello Kitty fan should have this game. It’s available in the iTunes App store for $4.99 $2.99 (on sale now!) and is well-worth every penny. For more information about Hello Kitty Parachute, see http://hellokittyparachuteparadise.sanriotown.com

This article was originally published and featured in iProng Magazine Issue #54.

Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise Trailer

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