Gamer reviews for Angry Birds Stella POP!
Prepare to Get Angry
Angry Birds Stella POP! is not the usual launcher game you would have expected from Rovio's most popular game. Instead, what you will have is this colorful balloon / bubble bursting game that looks generic, but still is entertaining.
The game is free to download with an in-app purchase option ranging from $0.99 (10 gold coins) to $34.99 (650 gold coins). You will be tempted to use coins, wait, you will actually use the gold coins. You will have 50 gold coins at the start, you can connect your game to Facebook to get 10 more coins and that is it. There are also lives, now, this will recharge for a set time. Lives are spent when you fail to complete the levels, and the gold coins are used to buy lives.
Gameplay is the classic Puzzle Booble with lots of modifications to play better in the modern era. You use a slingshot to shoot bubbles, and the Match-3 part of the game will take care of it moving forward. Having three or more adjacent bubbles with the same color. There are power ups, sort of destroying a large area of balloons, and wiping the balloons with the same colors. Also, there are different “characters” (Stella including) that will provide special abilities. I will not break down each and everyone’s abilities because they are much varied, and sometimes mixes up.
There is a level of polish that you will get Rovio like levels being varied, multiple game modes, mixed modes, and a lot of other stuff. Angry Birds Stella POP! gets a lot difficult as soon as you progress, hence, you will be forced to use your coins to purchase more lives because you will fail. However, you can take the high road of being patient, and just let lives replenish, and be more familiar with the levels in order to complete them.
The physics engine used in this game is probably the best one. The Match-3 / Puzzle Bobble-clone genre is a much crowded place. Angry Birds Stella POP! stands out for having the best graphics, engine, and controls. The music is not as good as the overall package, but it is more than average. Sound effects are ample, nothing really new.
Yes, most of the times, the game is merciless with the time constraint, sudden spikes of difficulty, and just pure genius in level design, gated for the reason of profit. However, you can always play the game without paying a cent. Things might be more convenient, not necessarily easier, if you “buy” your way out. Still, dropping over a few dollars is worth it since the content of this game is just begging for you to pay for it. As of this writing, the game is still being updated and there is still a promise of more content in the future. Given that this is a Rovio game, this promise will be fulfilled.