Android App Update: Cordy Gets More Levels!

Just a quick heads up for anyone looking for an awesome platformer for their Android device.  SilverTree Media's 'Cordy' has been updated recently and in the process has been given a handful of new levels.  And the game continues to amaze me.   Seriously, this game contains some of the best graphics and gameplay in a mobile app that is available.

The base game is free (first 10 levels), and the rest of the game can be purchased from within the app.

Android Market: Cordy

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Android Review: 'Cordy' by SilverTreeMedia

As promised this is the first of hopefully many Android reviews.  Today we are looking at 'Cordy' by SilverTreeMedia.  I first played this game at  our local Best Buy a few months ago.  It was loaded onto the Xoom that was on demo in the store.  Immediately, I wanted this game.  I recently picked up a Acer Iconia a500 tablet running Honeycomb, and this was the first game I downloaded.

It is free from the Google Android Market.  After downloading you can enjoy the first 4 levels for free. Once you hit the 4th level you'll be prompted to buy the rest of the levels from within the game.  It is only a few dollars (somewhere around $3 or $4 dollars).  But it is money well spent.

'Cordy' is an extremely well put together game.  I found it fun to replay levels; unlike many platformer games where you feel kind of forced to replay a previous level.  I didn't experience that with this game.  It was just as fun to run through a previous level as it was to discover a new one.  The game is built on the Unity game engine, and can run on Android devices with at least the following hardware:
-Android 2.2 (Froyo)
-ARMv7 CPU
-OpenGL ES 2.0


If you're device is rocking at least the above specs you are good to go.  


The graphics are simply amazing, especially when you consider it is running on a mobile device.  As mentioned above I run this game on my Acer Iconia a500 tablet and it runs perfect.  My wife runs it on her HTC Evo 4G and it runs well.  Very well infact.  The only issue I've noticed when running it on the Evo is a slight lag which can catch you at a bad time when playing (usually when running around a corner when the whole game world has to rotate).  Otherwise, it's great.

The controls are simple and for the most part they stay out of the way.  On the Evo it feels a little more cramped, mostly due to the screen size.  On the tablet, the buttons are large, but they aren't in the way while you're playing.  You basically have one button to run left, and one button to run to the right.  On the right side of the screen you have a jump button and an action button that allows you to charge up the exit hubs, swing, or grab depending on what the situation demands.  Meanwhile, you'll run around the level collecting glowing orbs and gears.  Once you collect enough of the glowing orbs to build up your battery meter, you can plug Cordy into an exit hub which will charge it up and activate the exit door.  Then you can run to the next level.  In later levels you actually get to swing around objects and even jump onto a springboard that will launch Cordy into the foreground or background to continue his adventure.


'Cordy' is a platformer/puzzler game at it's heart.  All the while it dresses itself up with beautiful graphics and snappy gameplay.  As you play you also unlock hats for Cordy to wear during his adventure.  This game is a blast to play and doesn't cost a dime (at least for the first 4 levels).  If you are a fan of simple, but fun games than 'Cordy' is a must have.  'Cordy' has been named as one of the 'Best Games on Android Market' and has been picked as an Editor's Choice title from the market as well.


Checkout the promo video from SilverTree Media's Youtube channel.
And a Link to Cordy in the Android Marketplace.









*Cordy and all respective properties therein are owned by SilverTree Media.

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Got my Android Tablet!

Well, this past Thursday I finally bought an Android Tablet.  I chose the Acer Iconia A500.  Best Buy currently carries the A500 for $449.99 U.S.  It rocks the Android 3.0 'Honeycomb' out of the box.  And let me say, it is pretty freakin' sweet.

This isn't a comprehensive review by any means, but I'll quickly hit the highlights.  This tablet is sporting a NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core mobile processor and 1GB DDR2 memory.  The A500 is a wifi only tablet, so no need to add it to your mobile carrier's data plan.  With public wifi being so readily available these days here in my area I don't have much of a need for a 3G connection at this time (this is subject to change).  This device also offers Bluetooth, A-GPS, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, HDMI, Dual Speakers (with Dolby), MicroSD card slot, 16GB of internal storage, front facing and rear facing cameras.

The unit is slick to use and very impressive.  A lot of people have mentioned on other sites that this tablet is pretty heavy.  Personally, I don't have a bit of an issue with it's weight.  I had noticed that the battery life seemed to dwindle down fairly quickly.  After doing a little snooping around the devices settings menu I found the 'Battery Use' sub-menu which pointed to the 'Cell Standby' process as using a lot of my expended battery power.  After a few minutes of snooping around forums online, I found the simplest fix that has worked for me (without downloading an app from the Google Market).

I simply put the device in 'Airplane' mode and leave it in airplane mode while then activating the Wifi connection.  Wifi will stay turned on and the device will remain in airplane mode as well.  After doing this I have noticed a huge difference in battery life for the better.

The only other issue I have is voice chat is pretty limited at this time.  My wife has an HTC Evo 4G and occasionally  we'll use something like Yahoo IM to do a video chat from my PC to her Evo.  Which works great.  Right now due to limitations on the Evo (running Froyo) Google Talk's videochat is non-existant.  Supposedly the Evo is in line a the update for Gingerbread later in June which should alleviate this issue.  Honeycomb optimized apps are at a premium right now due to the fact that there just aren't that many apps optimized for Honeycomb.  However, most of the other apps I have tried have worked flawlessly.

Now that I am getting pretty familiar with Honeycomb, look for a few reviews to show up pretty soon.  Right now I am playing through Cordy, and have several other games in mind too.  So check back soon.

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