cut-the-rope-time-travel_608899141_02.jpgEveryone’s favorite candy-eating little green monster is back for a new adventure that spans six different time periods.

When it comes to sequels the folks at ZeptoLab could teach those tired old Angry Birds a thing or two. With each subsequent title in the Cut the Rope franchise, ZeptoLab doesn’t just settle for reskining and rehashing of the same old game. Instead they’ve taken what everyone loved about the previous titles and expanded and innovated on those concepts. With Om Nom’s latest outing, Cut the Rope: Time Travel players get double the fun as they must deliver two tasty treats to not just one, but two Om Noms in each level.

If somehow you are unfamiliar with the Cut the Rope series, it is a physics based puzzle game in which players interact with elements to try to collect (up to) 3 star and drop a piece of candy into adorable Om Nom’s eagerly awaiting open mouth. This time around ZeptoLab introduces some really neat new gameplay elements for players to experiment and play with. Instead of the usual ‘boxes’, the game’s 90 launch levels (more are certainly coming in future updates) are broken up into six 15-level packs, each of which takes place in a different time zone and adds one or more new gameplay elements.

Just some of the goodies waiting for you include:

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  • The Middle Ages – chains which can only be cut by special blades, which require players to carefully aim blades so they free, but don’t harm the precious candy.
  • The Renaissance – adds the ability to freeze and unfreeze time. When time is unfrozen, frozen objects no longer move in their pre-freeze trajectory.
  • The Pirates – exploding bombs which can send candy flying.
  • Ancient Egypt – the second piece of candy sprouts wings and this flying candy follows the movement of the other piece of candy.
  • Ancient Greece – special stone platforms holding the two Om Noms turn around when the candy flies in front of the stone switch (ind of like those bookshelves in old Scooby Doo cartoons).
  • The Stone Age – by rotating the hands of a clock, players can change the position of objects to where they were at a previous point in time. When used in conjunction with the time freezing, it makes for some fun levels.

In addition to these, there are also rockets, portals, trampolines and more fun stuff to interact with.

As is usually the case with a Cut the Rope game, some levels will require experimentation to solve, especially when learning the new mechanics and attempting to get three stars. That being said, I’d have to say that the overall difficulty of the 90 launch levels was fairly low. I was able to finish all the levels with 3 stars on each and earn all 26 achievements in under two hours of play. Of course difficulty will vary by player, but there were only a handful of levels that gave me extended pause.

For struggling players there is a ‘Superpower’ system which players can enable where you basically get to ignore everything in the level and just move the candy with Telekinesis. Using a repelling motion with your finger, you can collect the stars and feed the Om Noms. When you go into Telekinesis mode, you’ll also have the ability to find a 4th (hidden) star. You are given a few of these superpowers for free and more can be purchased as IAPs using real money.

cut-the-rope-time-travel_608899141_16Other than the relatively low difficulty level, the only real ding I can give to the game is that ZeptoLab still refuses to embrace the Universal app. I’ve complained about this numerous times before so I won’t go into another big rant, but I’d urge developers that plan to release separate iPhone and iPad releases to at least consider making the (usually more expensive) iPad release a Universal app, so that consumers are not forced to decide on a platform, or opt to play the cheaper iPhone version in 2x mode on the iPad. I only played the iPhone release (99¢), but a separate iPad release of Cut the Rope: Time Travel is available for $1.99.

In Conclusion:

Cut the Rope: Time Travel is both familiar and innovative at the same time. The cool new time and mechanical elements, as well as the need to deliver two pieces of candy make for a fresh Cut the Rope experience that will definitely appeal to both new and long-time fans of the franchise. It was great catching up with Om Nom again and I’m looking forward to more levels in future updates.