Fastar!, or "Fight Angry Squares: The Action RPG", reduces a lot of RPG features down to their most basic form. Upgrading at shops is just a matter of holding down the buy button like you're topping off your gas at the gas station, and every enemy in the game is a single-colored square.
We like to think of the preponderance of enemy squares in Fastar! as a form of censorship. The real enemies, we think, are so obscene that they have to be covered up with giant blocks. It's nice not to have to fight the same few rats, bats, spiders, and goblins that are in every RPG, but in general squares are not known for their interesting personalities.
Just like the printer-bashing scene in Office Space.
Not that Fastar! doesn't try, though. Squares have certain behaviors, like a floating "angelic" white square that hovers just out of reach, and a "black belt" square that will charge at you mercilessly. Squares also grow to enormous sizes as you advance, but the novelty still wears off after a few rounds.
The game also tries to make up for the bland enemies in other ways. As you run from left to right Zombieville-style, you'll get clever status updates, such as "You encounter scenery." Slain squares explode with coins like burst piñatas, and even the spells in the game have funny names, like "Bzap" for an electricity spell.
Bring me more fresh hearts!
Fastar! has been stripped of its storyline as well, so your goal in each round is simply to make it to the end of the level as quickly as possible. Online leaderboards are included, but we prefer our Action-RPGs to have more emotional resonance than a 50 meter dash. We had a bit more fun with the challenge modes, which require you to earn the most money or survive an onslaught of giant squares.
Fastar! has a good amount of variety and charm, but it doesn't entirely make up for the lack of a storyline or proper enemies. Action-RPGs on the App Store like Zenonia 2 don't hold back at all when it comes to providing an epic backdrop for your sword-swinging and spell-casting, so it's a little hard to recommend Fastar! if you want something that plays like The Legend of Zelda. It's not what we're used to, but Fastar! is still worth a try.
11 Comments
It's a pick up and go game may I remind you lol
I'll probably pick this one up. Hope it goes free, then I'm getting it for sure.
Another crap review. What is going on?
I love this site, but how does no one notice the similarity?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URM2X0OUygM
If this game had a storyline or other enemies, it would lose a lot of its charm. When you think about it, there's more enemy variety in this game than most other pick-up-and-play action games; floating, aggressive, shy, spontaneous, magical, lazy, unpredictable, small, gifrigginormous(yes, that is the actual name) and several others. A more developed storyline is also unneeded. Part of the fun is finding out at the end of each round why you just did that (Example: He was trying to make it to the bus stop in time.) While I do agree that a bit more customization would be nice, this game easily deserves a 4.
You make a good case, but I still don't think this game quite has the long-term value that would make it a 4 in my view. I started to become bored before too long, simply running to the right and whacking squares. The spells and special missions help a lot, but I think a lengthy and varied Action-RPG like Zenonia is much more deserving of our highest score. You can hear a more in-depth discussion of Fastar! on our next podcast.
I think the issue is more your base for comparison rather than the laurels of the game. I also believe fastar! deserves a 4. However of course when you make the comparison of zenonia to fastar! it is apparent that zenonia is the deeper RPG but the issue is fastar! is (at least in my opinion) not trying to be a full blown RPG but rather be more in the realm of say zombieville. When the comparison between zombieville and fastar! is made it is equally apparent that fastar! is the far deeper game as it totes 24 game modes(given a few are repetitive) as well a much larger variety of enemies than in zombieville. It seems to me that this sort of game does not appeal to you which detracted from it's score, rather than some certain aspect of the game being flawed. That or the fact that you were comparing it to zenonia(which is in a different genre entirely, despite fastar! having RPG in its name which could easily cause confusion I admit) caused a misrepresentation of this game.
I only took the time to post this because I thoroughly enjoyed fastar! and felt like I should explain why I found issue with this review rather than simply insult it as is often the case on this website I have noticed. Anyways that is my opinion and while I may disagree with this particular review I felt like I must say that I do generally respect STP reviews and this website as well as toucharcade will continue to be my prime iPhone game review sites.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments!
I deff bought this.
IT'S FREE!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY THANKS FAAD!
lots of fun to play :)
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