Angry Birds Space A Hit!

The champion of the mobile format, Angry Birds, has been feeling a little stale lately. With the original and spin-offs including Rio and Seasons re-hashing a lot of the same elements we've come to love, it was time for a change. Enter Angry Birds Space.

Space adds completely new play styles while maintaining that classic Angry Birds experience. Physics and strategic firing of birds to topple those snorting pigs is still the primary goal here, but there is a huge emphasis on things like gravitational pull to take into consideration before flinging your heroes aloft.

The first few levels are incredibly simple to get people used to the new mechanics and environments. The birds themselves have changed in some ways to compensate for their space-faring adventure. I won't spoil too much, considering there are a lot of Angry Birds fanatics out there.

So far I've only played through the first chapter and it feels and plays great, no issues with freezing or crashing which is quite the accomplishment considering it's still version 1.0

The cartoonish visuals remain, along with the hilarious sound effects, but overall the game feels more polished. I'm playing on my iPhone 4, so I can only imagine what it's like on the shmancy new iPad.

This is probably the biggest release for the Angry Birds franchise since the series graced our iPhones all of those years ago, changing gaming-on-the-go forever.

Releasing on March 22nd for iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX, Rovio (the developer) is poised to make another killing at the bank with it's addictive and popular franchise. For the iOS version, it retails for .99 cents on the app store.

What's almost more amazing is how Angry Birds has permeated popular culture. There are plush toys, t-shirts, a rumoured TV show, and the games continue to be at the top of the bestsellers list for months, even years. It could also be responsible for the rise of smartphones being seen as true mobile gaming platforms, to the detriment of Nintendo and Sony, as they continue to lose marketshare.

All this being said, fans and newcomers to Angry Birds will enjoy this refreshing take on flinging birds into pigs.