Every now and then, a unique game arrives which is completely unexpected and turns out to be a real gem, and Ozone fits in to this category perfectly. You won’t find many other games like it in the Appstore and certainly not as polished and fun to play.
Created by developers Geardome, Ozone has you guiding a ball which is filled with air around a cleverly designed level, with an objective of collecting all of the yellow orbs before you can progress to the next stage. You have to avoid pesky enemies and traps along the way and ensure you still have air left in the ball so it can float throughout the Ozone.
Tapping a direction on the D-pad will propel the ball your chosen way, with the ball floating until you either hit the brake button or the ball runs out of momentum. Braking at the correct time is vital to collect all of the yellow orbs throughout levels and move through obstacles smoothly. Air is released from the ball everytime you move it using the D-pad and therefore it is important to take advantage of the ball floating, using the D-pad sparsely. You must complete the level by the time your air gauge depletes otherwise you will die. The amount of air you have remaining is indicated by a gauge at the top of the screen. Air pumps, which as the name suggests, add air to your ball, and are located throughout the longer levels to give you a helping hand, but you will still have to be wary over your movements and not just thoughtlessly zoom about.
>Three weapons are available to pick up throughout levels which you can use to eliminate enemies and clear your path. A plasma weapon acts as a basic gun which releases a shot every time you tap the button, with a lightning weapon destroying any enemies who float nearby, and finally a nuke which dispenses of any unfortunate enemies on the screen. A strength power-up is vital to progression in certain levels as this power-up adds a stronger core to your ball, allowing you to break through crumbling walls and also protect yourself from enemies.
The great thing about Ozone is that the game caters to whatever mood you find yourself in. If you want to relax then you can calmly float through the levels and embrace the fantastic, chilled-out soundtrack. If however you’re in the mood for some frantic gameplay, you can take a different approach and race round the levels in order to gain a highscore and upload it to the leaderboards.
The visuals featured in Ozone are second to none on the iPhone and are simply stunning. Each of the 4 different environments you’ll find yourself in are easily distinguishably from one other and each have their own unique look. The small puffs of air everytime you move the ball bring class to the game along with the high resolution textures and the animations which are as smooth as David Hasslehoff’s chest hair. The previously mentioned audio does a great job of bringing a mellow and relaxing atmosphere to the game, and you can even download the full soundtrack for free from Geardome’s website.
The 50 plus levels which span over 4 gorgeous worlds will keep you going for a good couple of hours, and I’m sure you’ll want to visit them again in the near future to re-capture their beauty. Being given a score at the end of each level and the chance to upload it to global leaderboards provides an added incentive to replay the game.
In Conclusion
At the current price of $4.99, I highly recommend you check out Ozone; a ball rolling game that features simplistic controls, gorgeous visuals, a brilliant soundtrack and over 50 well designed levels. Don’t miss this one.
Screenshots
