Note: this blog has been migrated to Medium, with the articles here available to preserve permalinks Please see this post at https://medium.com/@ianrbuck/super-hexagon-review-ff5eb1050b55
I reviewed Super Hexagon way back in Eight Bit #24: I Only Lasted Fifty Seconds! and I have completely neglected to make a written version until now.
This game is very well suited to mobile platforms. It is simple, easy to pick up quickly, each game doesn't last long, and it is very addicting. The soundtrack is also a very catchy trio of chiptune songs by Chipzel.
The point of the game is to maneuver a little triangle to avoid hitting the brightly-colored lines that are making their way towards the middle of the screen. The control scheme consists of tapping the right side of the screen to rotate clockwise and the left side of the screen to rotate counterclockwise. That's it, there isn't anything else to it.
Of course, avoiding the lines is easier said than done. The game is so aware of its incredible difficulty that the first stage is labeled as "hard". Initially it seemed impossibly fast and I usually lost after only a few seconds. But over time I started to see patterns and I got better at picking my fingers up quickly, and my high score slowly began climbing.
If you do not like this kind of challenge, this game is not for you.
Every ten seconds a female voice calls out a new polygon. Point, Line, Triangle, Square, Pentagon, and finally Hexagon. I have never been happier to hear the names of geometrical shapes.
Initially there are three stages available: Hexagon, Hexagoner, and Hexagonest. They get progressively faster and feature different patterns for you to master. Once you make it to sixty seconds in one of them, a faster version of that stage unlocks (for a total of six stages). Currently I have completed the first two stages and I am working on the third.
The best thing about the game is that it is entirely skill, reflex, and speed based. So when you improve on your high score you know that it is entirely because you have improved your skill at the game, not because you unlocked some arbitrary ability that helped you last longer.
I would definitely recommend getting Super Hexagon on your mobile platform of choice. It costs $3 and is available on Android, iOS, and Blackberry and on Windows, Mac, and Linux through Steam or superhexagon.com.
One last thing: don't try to play this game while spinning in an office chair. You will probably throw up.
