Secrets of Mysterious Island for iPhone

It’s no secret that Chillingo’s Secrets of Mysterious Island is the most visually stunning application on the iPhone. What you may not realize, though, is that it is also possibly one of the most fun. This point and click adventure fills a niche that has been relatively untapped up through this point – and what an impression it leaves! There is simply not a game that comparies with this masterpiece.

Just to get this off my chest – Secrets of Mysterious Island is difficult. Really difficult. I couldn’t beat it straight through without a couple glances at the walkthrough, which is conveniently published in App Girl Reviews’ forums if you need help. If you are the sort of person who must beat a game without help, you probably aren’t looking into point and click adventures anyway. If you are, more power to you. Just don’t come crying to me when you can’t get rid of the jaguar because the solution is the most obscure you’ve ever seen.

But those graphics! All I can say is, wow. I’m shocked that this is an iPhone application. Even though it’s nearly a full GB in memory, I still can’t wrap my mind around how lifelike and amazing the game looks. To top it off, Chillingo has managed to do the one thing that I miss most desperately in iPhone gaming. They’ve managed to put voices to the characters. As a fan of the RPG genre, I always wince when reading cut-scenes. To have a character talk in-game? I’m in ecstasy.

If you’re unfamiliar with point and click games, they’re basically an adventure game. You may wander the world aimlessly, interacting with your surroundings to attempt to find solutions for your objectives. The solutions may be obscure and difficult. You can pick up objects throughout the game, and sometimes objects must be used in conjunction with other objects in order to proceed. I recommend keeping a walk-through handy. Even if you don’t use it much, it’s a comfort when things get too hard.

The storyline isn’t overly original, but it’s far from trite. If you’re familiar with the old PC game, it’s very similar (although not exact, and there are no mini games). You’ll play a girl (Mina) and her monkey (Jep). At times, you switch from one player to another in order to explore certain locations (Jep can’t go under water; Mina won’t climb trees or jump out windows). You will face obstacles as you attempt to escape from the island where your helicopter crashed.

The graphics are so stunning that I can’t help but gush when I mention this application. I’ve never seen such fantastic 3D images on my iPhone. This application is actually the sequel to Return to Mysterious Island, which has a price point of only $2.99. It stands on its own and can be played without playing the first version easily, but I highly recommend picking up both applications. They’re just too good to miss.

Jules Verne’s Secrets of Mysterious Island is available on the iPhone App Store [link]

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