Alto’s Odyssey review: The next adventure awaits you

Alto’s Odyssey is another fantastic adventure that brings mobile gamers back to an incredible new world filled with exciting objectives, new items, and exotic levels.

Developer: Snowman
Publisher: Snowman
Platforms: iOS
Release Date: February 22, 2017

Alto’s back and this time, he’s bringing a sandboard to the table! Alto’s Odyssey is officially available and previous fans of the original Alto’s Adventure game will return to yet another beautiful escape from reality. This time around, instead of endlessly traveling across snow through ever-changing levels, now it’s sand, with some unique dynamics added to the mix.

Right from the start, the graphics and gameplay are even better than the original. With all different kinds of elements from rain to snow to lightning storms and now sand, everything comes together nicely to create an almost surreal experience.

Alto’s Odyssey is as close to a perfect sequel as it can be since it adds to the original style of play and enhances it with new mechanics. The original was such a worldwide hit that it made sense for developers at Snowman to stick with what works so well. The best new mechanic of the game is now, players are able to wall ride thanks to a new sandboard item can be unlocked after the first few levels. It adds such a fun and seamless element to the game that you’ll find yourself waiting for these wall riding moments to do more trick jumps.

Besides that, the game has added several new ideas to the table. New in this sequel is bouncing off hot air balloons and whirlwinds that catapult you incredibly high into the air. These now add innovative more ways to rack up a plethora of points, and of course, gold coins.

For those of you that love to capture the stunning visuals of the game without worrying about the core objectives of the game, Zen Mode is back and keeps the same functionality as in the original. Players will be able to capture and share screenshots as they happen in Zen Mode, especially with the amazing water levels that are truly remarkable. If you’re looking for a great neverending mode to play before heading to bed for the night, Alto’s Odyssey’s Zen Mode is the perfect way to relax.

Another fun aspect of the game is the fact that now, pirate ships and shipwrecks can also be generated randomly in a level. Of course, treasure await,s since the majority of the time items are found around these ships. After playing the game for a few hours straight, Alto’s Odyssey feels natural and just like the original, it’s better when hooked up to a pair of headphones to truly immerse yourself into everything this game is about.

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At launch, there weren’t any bugs at all as even the Workshop worked perfectly and made playing the game even more enticing. A feeling of anxiousness may hit players as they endlessly play Alto’s Odyssey to gather more gold coins to then purchase great quality-of-life items to use in levels. Stocking up on Helmets to prevent a single crash, increasing your Magnet Time, and the ever-popular Wingsuit are all back in the sequel.

New items in Alto’s Odyssey feature a Mysterious Radio that will randomly drop useful items as you progress through levels, the aforementioned Sandboard to wall ride with, and a Compass which will guide you where you want to go for secrets and goodies in a particular zone. Some of these items are pricey, so make sure to save and use your gold coins wisely after long gaming sessions.

When it comes to the objectives in the game, just like the original, they’re fun, easy, and increase in difficulty as you continue to level up. Combine that with the procedurally generated areas and it’s always a new experience each and every time you play. Objectives are easy to accomplish as even the most difficult of objectives will come every now and then but with practice, are doable. For those of you that may have never played the original, if you own both on iOS, they seamlessly link up together by swiping left at the Home screen. That will come in handy for those that might want to go back to the original, beat it, and go right into the sequel without having to open up both applications simultaneously.

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At launch, Alto’s Odyssey is only available on iOS, but developers at Snowman have confirmed that an Android version is in the works but won’t be available for a few months from now. For now, Apple users can purchase the game for $4.99 and play it on their iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. It’s well worth it, especially if you’re playing on a big screen TV and want to see what Alto’s Odyssey looks like in 4K.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.