Have you ever felt entrapped in the classroom, conference room or cubicle you spend your days working in? Ever felt like escaping it all? The nameless businessman starring in Above seems to live out those feelings to the full. He looks like he shares the workplace with Hitoshi Susumu of Tomena Sanner fame. Sporting a red tie, and a briefcase our hero in Above wants to reach the clouds and beyond. His escape is what we all dream about at times during tedious lectures and meetings.

Above is a distance high score game where you control the jump power of the protagonist. A meter at the top of the screen shows power, and simply tap, hold and release to set the power. The controls are easy to get into, and the gameplay is a combination of Doodle Jump and Canabalt. Aiming for platforms going upwards Doodle Jump style with Canabalt style minimal controls. The second real similarity to Canabalt is that you want to see what lies beyond the point you reached the last time. Will there be a bar in the sky? Will the jumping hero find his happiness up there?

I love playing Above, and it has been just as addictive as Canabalt. The gameplay is quite forgiving as you can fall off the screen as long as you stay above the red line. Once close to that line though hurried decisions often spell death. As the levels seem to be randomly created the challenge is always fresh, and even the easier first 1000 meters can be deadly.

Graphics are beautiful and lucid. Way down below you can see the industrial zone that you are probably escaping. There is nothing menacing about the game, and the cell-shaded look enhance the relaxing mood of Above. The music is also good, and you can play your own music while keeping the sound effects.

There are three different levels in the beta build of Above. I have yet to unlock the extra levels but I am hell bent on getting there. A limited amount of achievements are available, and there could probably be more of them. The high score list name entry is limited to six letters, and I would like to have at least eight letters. Having signs in the game showing your best results as you jump by is a really nice feature. The fact that the game clearly tells you when you break your highscore is also a great motivational factor to keep jumping upwards. Facebook and Twitter integration show that the game has got some online connectivity going.

Playing Above is such a joy, and if you are prone to get hooked on casual run and jump games you are in for a treat. Keep your eyes peeled for the review once Above hits the App Store.

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Review disclosure: Any games reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note: the resulting review score is never impeded by this fact, all opinions are that of the TouchGen reviewer and not the developer. This is in keeping with our O.A.T.S oath. Read more about O.A.T.S here

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