Playman Extreme Running Review

Costas Stephanides’s Review

The Playman series just runs and runs

Playman has been away from our screens for a while now. Nobody knew where he was or what he was up to. It is now clear that he has been mixing it with the B-boys and learnt some new skills - or should that be mad skillz. Playman does Parkour which involves running, back flipping and vaulting your way around city landscapes. Why? Because he can.

There have been a couple of mobile games that have tried to tap into this urban sport but Playman brings a fluidness and animation that far surpasses previous attempts such as Marc Ecko's Getting Up and ESPN Downtown Dash.

Firstly the graphics; the sprite is large and the animation smooth and detailed. The game can even handle two characters simultaneously running on the screen with no slow down. Playman is reminiscent of the bendy Nate Adams except the animation in FMX was more akin to a raggy doll than a freestyle motocross champion.

The game is split into 12 unlockable cityscapes with about 45 challenges in total. The are a number of challenges which include flag hunt, freestyle scoring and a straight sprint to the finish. The challenges are designed to ensure you discover every part of the level and find the best places for your tricks.

The controls are easy to pick up but careful timing is required to pull out the big scores. Taking inspiration from Nom, Playman is always running, you just have to worry about jumping, flipping and climbing. The first few areas run you through the special moves and the game gradually incorporates these through the levels; the learning curve is overall very good. There are a couple of tough levels where you have a very limited time to score big points; passing these requires near perfect execution and the right strategy of jumps. See the hints for a few ideas. If you manage to complete all the levels, an internet address is revealed where you can download the various wallpapers and music files.

The review wouldn't be complete without mentioning Playman's sister, Blaise. We're not really sure as to her purpose other than attracting a few females to Parkour and mobile gaming. Her moves are the same and there is only an aesthetic difference.

I've mentioned a few games during this review and Playman Extreme Running does not imitate them in any way but does show what can be done on a small screen and only four buttons that the others didn't quite manage. It truly deserves its Gold Award; if it had a medals system (as seen in Turbo Camels Circus Extreme) to really stretch the longevity then it would have got the Ice Cold Award.