Microtransactions get a bad rap, but when they’re done well, I don’t really mind them. I get frustrated, though, when microtransactions limit the experience — and that’s precisely Angry Birds Go!’s problem. It promises a high-quality karting experience with depth rivaling a console racer, and its cheerful bird-vs-pig-themed graphics make for some lighthearted fun. But it’s very obviously designed to push its microtransactions, and that stunts its would-be complex elements. The result is a downhill kart racer that looks great and plays well, but is really far shallower than it initially seems.
My Angry Birds Go! career started out strong with a few quick tutorial races, after which I got a choice of kart and was sent on my way. At first, I was really impressed — the graphics are colorful and charming, karts can be upgraded, and there are five distinct race types. My favorite is Fruit Splat, which replaces the coins on the track with fruits that explode in your face when you run into them. It worked best with Angry Birds’ downhill style of racing, which forgoes any acceleration or deceleration control.
As far as control goes, there’s both a tilt and a touch option for steering, and I found that both responded really well (though I preferred tilt). Combined, everything is really polished. For a while, it had me feeling like I was playing one of the great Nintendo kart racers of old.
The Verdict
Its greediness is unfortunate, because Angry Birds Go! is a bright, colorful kart racer with upbeat music and cute, cheery sound effects. I did have a lot of fun smashing fruits with my kart, and the races, in isolation, were a good way to pass some time. On top of that, it’s polished and plays well. Its downfall is in the outrageously priced microtransactions, which turn it into a repetitive, shallow grind. It’s the kind of game that I would have liked to sit down and play at length, but its freemium design make it only playable in short bursts. Otherwise, it’s a repetitive, tedious example of why people hate on microtransactions.
