Basketball Odyssey is a pretty simple game of shooting hoops. You’ve got a set number of balls to finish each challenge. There are ten challenges in a level. Hit every shot and you’ll unlock the next level.
You drag on the screen to aim and power up your shot, and there’s an easy to understand meter that shows you the direction the balls is heading and how strong your throw is going to be. There’s no dip to the line, though, which can make for some pretty challenging and fiddly play.
You earn coins from scoring shots, and more if you land a perfect basket. You can then spend those coins on extra balls for your next run. If you’ve got three balls, for example, you get three goes at every shot. Miss them and you can watch a video to get another ball, or to get a full go again.
There are daily challenges here as well, which task you with clearing a set number of shots for a decent reward. You can practice these as many times as you like, but when it comes to the real thing you only get one go. That can make for some quite tense moments when you make a shot with your last ball to move on.
Basketball Odyssey wants to be a soothing, simple experience, but in practice it’s sometimes quite frustrating. The controls can be a little fiddly, and sometimes the slightest shift in your digit when you lift it up to fire can send the ball careening off, miles away from the basket.
The game certainly looks lovely, with chunky pixel graphics and gorgeous, pastel backdrops that range from burnished sunsets to strange, alien skies. It’s definitely nice to look at, but when you mess up a shot it doesn’t do much to lessen the grump.
Basketball Odyssey is entertaining for the most part, and it’s worth checking out just for the gorgeous pastel backgrounds. Just be aware that sometimes it’s going to annoy rather than delight.
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