Smash Tanks!
Tanks for the memories
$1.99 From Dumpling design, dumplingdesign.com Made for iPhone or iPad Needs iOS 11.0 or later
Smash Tanks connects the dots between the dawn of home videogaming and today’s cutting-edge technology. The basic premise — blow up the enemy’s tanks, in a tiny arena — echoes Combat, which appeared back in 1977 on the Atari 2600. Fortunately, Combat was loads of fun. Even better, the execution in Smash Tanks is superb, fully taking advantage of augmented reality (AR) and iOS touchscreens.
Matches are turn-based, with you using your trio of tanks as slingshots, to take out your opponent’s army. Controls are simple: drag back to aim/set your power level, and then let go. Sporadic weapon drops add to the chaos, providing temporary shields for whoever grabs them or the means to rain down missiles on a hapless opponent.
Despite the immediacy of Smash Tanks, there’s strategy lurking within. Environments are destructible, meaning you can in theory topple towers onto your enemy. And those power-ups require collection, but collecting them can leave you exposed. However, you can also activate a powered-up tank by hitting it with another. So lob the AR side of things into the mix, and you end up with a surreal pool-like take on Combat, in AR arenas that can be resized to fit anything from a coffee table to a garden.
The only downsides are a poor single-player mode (the AI is dumb) and no online multiplayer.
The bottom line. A silly, smashy slice of AR gaming that’s just really good fun to play. Craig Grannell
Great