Game Review: Alto’s Odyssey (Mobile)

Alto’s Adventure was a gorgeous and well-crafted endless runner style game. One that bucked the trend of most other games within that genre by being fun, rewarding and non-restrictive. It was a great game with a few niggly details here and there. You can read our review here and watch our video review below. It didn’t exactly liken itself to a sequel but a sequel is what we got.

Called Alto’s Odyssey, it looked to take the core gameplay and mechanics of the first game and make them better, all while adding new features and challenges. It sounds like a lot but to be fair it had to be as the game costs a whopping £4.99.

I’m a big fan of Alto’s Adventure and I really like Alto’s Odyssey but that’s a rip-off. Hell, putting the two games into one pack and charging that price would still seem a bit steep.

Here’s the thing, no matter how pretty and well-designed Odyssey is, it is still a endless runner at its core. A good one, a damn good one but an endless runner none the less.

Your only controls come from touching the screen to jump and holding the screen down to perform flips while in the air.

The main goals of the game are to make it as far as possible completing tasks that increase your level and collecting coins to spend in the shop. Thank goodness for the latter two as there really wouldn’t be any replay value without them.

The missions are varied enough and with just the right amount of increasing challenge to keep trying over and over again. It could be something as simple as making it a certain distance or something as trying as doing a backflip after being launched into the air by a tornado. You’ll need to complete three different ones to move onto the next level.

These are enough to keep you involved and interested but again have limited shelf-life. Once you’ve given the gameplay an hour or two of your time.

Coins can be spent on one-time use items like a pickaxe that will save you from a single chasm crash or upgrading in-game perks like magnets and lotus flowers. The former drags all coins towards you and the latter makes you pretty much invincible except for falling into chasms.

As well as those there are special items that are unlocked later in the game. Such as the sandboard that lets you wallride. Each costs a lot though so you’re going to have to work hard to unlock them all.

Ultimately Alto’s Odyssey strength lies in the same things as Alto’s Adventure. Easy to pick up and play, addictive with decent replay value, gorgeous visuals and fantastic music. All the hallmarks of a great mobile game if we hadn’t already got all of this with the first in the series. Unfortunately, because of that and the high asking price, Alto’s Odyssey just isn’t worth it.