iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Friday, July 3, 2009
News Category: iPhone Applications

Ngmoco has released Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid, the sequel to the company’s popular Rolando game for the iPhone and iPod touch. In Rolando 2, players once again control a number of round characters, using a combination of accelerometer and touch controls to roll, jump, and otherwise navigate throughout the various levels. iLounge was given the opportunity to play a pre-release build of the game while we were at WWDC, and we found it to be a worthy sequel to the first game. The 2.5D graphics add a needed sense of depth, while the branching progression—the ability to choose one of two or more paths after finishing a level—was likely a necessary change to accommodate fans of the game who found themselves sometimes stuck on a particular level. Also new to the game are several classes of Rolandos, “vehicles” such as mine cars and a spike-covered ball, environmental challenges such as rising lava, water, and boulders, Idols to collect that let players skip levels of their choosing, the ability to play music from the iPhone or iPod touch instead of the built-in soundtrack, a larger map to explore, and an integrated tutorial system for first-time players. Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid is available now and sells for $10.