It seems to be an unwritten law that games based on movies suck. That’s why I am more than happy to say that Angry Birds Rio is clearly an exception to that rule. It turned out to be a great game that uses the movie only as a theme to surround its terrific gameplay formula.

And that formula remains almost untouched in Angry Brids Rio. The objective is still to tear down a structure that is put together out of different materials like glass, wood and stone. You will do this by shooting ‘Angry Birds’ via a slingshot right at the structure. The game gives you a different set of birds for each level, with each bird being especially good at destroying one type of material. So you will first have to identify a structural weakness and then go for it with the appropriate bird. A little twist is that you are now asked to destroy cages that are put into the structure to free birds that are trapped inside rather than hitting some mean pigs. But this is more of a visual change rather than having any influence on the gameplay. There are also bonus fruits and characters of the movie to be discovered. In the final of the 60 levels you will even come across a boss fight.

The presentation has been tweaked everywhere. The graphics are sharp and the 2 locations, warehouse and jungle, are really nice to look at (I especially like the warehouse). Rovio has also added some parallax scrolling that creates a bit of depth and gives the visuals a nice touch. Even the menus have been tweaked to be more accessible.

And there is more to come: On the level selection screen are 4 empty slots named ‘May’, ‘July’, ‘October’ and ‘November’ – so get ready for some more action to come within the next months. I always appreciate it a lot when developers keep on bringing new content to their games with regular updates, so kudos to Rovio.

Right now Angry Birds is the biggest brand in mobile(phone) gaming and rightly so. It just blends together the accessibility of a casual game with the challenge and depth of ‘hardcore’ titles so incredibly well. Angry Birds Rio is a great addition to the series and available on the App Store for iPhone [$0.99] and iPad [$2.99].

Liqua Pop could be considered as something like a prototype of a casual game. It is very simple to understand so everyone can pick it up and instantly start having fun. And the stunning visuals make sure your eyes are in for a treat as well.

The gameplay mechanics behind Liqua Pop are very, very simple. You have to match water drops of the same color that are falling down to make them pop before the screen is completely filled up. Once you have combined 4 drops a timer will start to make the drop pop. But since you will get more points for bigger drops you can reset that timer by double tapping the drop to combine it with even more drops. Shaking your iPhone will make all the drops with an active timer instantly pop. The game will also one by one introduce bugs that are caught up in the drops. Each of these bugs will have a special effect like changing the color of all surrounding drops, if you pop the water drop it’s in.

On the left side of the screen is a frog called ‘Toadie’ climbing up a straw. Popping drops will help him climb up the straw to reach a shiny drop at the top. Once he reaches it, the level is complete.

The presentation of Liqua Pop is stunning. The drops come in bright colors and feature a great looking liquid simulation that is fun to mess around with. The sound gives the game a relaxing touch to it thanks to its nature sounds with brids tweeting in the background.

The game is available for $1.99 on the App Store. But have in mind what I mentioned at the beginning: This is a casual game through and through. So while this might be great news for people who just want to start up a game every now and then while waiting for the bus, it could be a bit of a setback if you appreciate more complex games.