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In terms of original content, the best thing that can be said about Amazing Runner is it
doesn't have any zombies in it. It's the latest in a seemingly endless run of Temple Run clones,
each adding enough to the formula to count as a new game.
The additions here are slight - you can run on walls and the ceiling at certain parts,
and smash through some obstacles - but they come together to make an experience that,
while derivative, still manages to be reasonably exciting.
The game is set in a cartoon-style future, and tasks you with running as far as you can
before your timing or concentration falls short. So you sprint across a brightly coloured
raceway, dodging and leaping where necessary.
The big twist - other than the aforementioned wall and ceiling running sections - are giant
corkscrew-like whirls in the track. These require you to rapidly swipe your finger in
a circular motion to keep your feet on the ground. It's an interesting change, but it's
hardly a grand shift in the mechanics of the genre.
The rest of the controls are familiar - slide up to jump, tap to smash things, and tilt
your iOS device to collect the shiny gold coins that are arranged so tantalisingly around
the bends and twists of the running track.
The coins you collect can be spent on various boosts and single-use items, as well as on
purchasing new avatars to keep things interesting when you're sprinting. The power-ups are the
standard fare - a mix of bursts of speed and ways of making coin collection easier.
Amazing Runner does everything by the book. It's not revolutionary, and it's not going
to make you stand up and pay attention to endless-runners if you've not given two hoots
about them before.
Nor will it do anything to soothe the ire of those jaded by the neverending stream of
new entrants to the genre. If, however, you can't get enough of running forwards and jumping
over things, there's enough innovation here to keep you entertained for a good while.