Angry Birds Seasons

Angry Birds Seasons
Developer(s) Rovio Entertainment
Publisher(s) Rovio Entertainment
Series Angry Birds
Engine Box2D
Platform(s) iOS, Android, Symbian, webOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Windows Phone, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry Tablet OS
Release October 21, 2010[1]
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player

Angry Birds Seasons is the second puzzle video game in the Angry Birds series, developed by Rovio Entertainment. Based on Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons was released for devices using Apple's iOS in October 2010 and then it was released on other platforms starting in December 2010.

Gameplay

Just as in the original Angry Birds, players use a slingshot to launch an assortment of birds at nearby structures, with the intent of hitting targets located on or within them. The main targets are the pigs, and they can be defeated if directly fired at, or through other strategies, e.g.: the bird hits a structure that falls on the pig, defeating it. Small sized pigs are weak and easily defeated, while bigger pigs can sustain more damage. Each level pack represents a different "season", often based upon different themes and holidays. Different level packs have each unique theme and sometimes much different gameplay.

Release

2010

Season 2010 started in October 2010, when Rovio released a Halloween edition.[1] Angry Birds Halloween, exclusive to iOS at the time and a separate game, included levels with Halloween-themed music and graphics.[1] In December 2010, Rovio released Angry Birds Seasons to iOS, Android and Symbian 3 devices.[2][3] Seasons introduced 25 Christmas-themed levels, one for each day leading to the holiday, similar to an Advent calendar.[2][3] All versions include the previously-exclusive Halloween levels and are offered as separate, stand-alone paid applications, with the exception of the free, ad-supported Android version;[4] Angry Birds Halloween users on iOS received the Seasons levels as a free upgrade.[2] The Halloween version was given the episode title "Trick or Treat", while the Christmas episode was entitled "Season's Greedings".

2011

Season 2011 began in February 2011, when Rovio released a Valentine's Day update to Angry Birds Seasons, entitled "Hogs and Kisses", complete with new themed levels and graphics, as well as the option to send Angry Birds-themed Valentine's Day messages through Facebook.[5] In March 2011, Rovio released a new St. Patrick's Day update, entitled "Go Green, Get Lucky",[6] followed by an Easter update, entitled "Easter Eggs", in April 2011[7] and a summer update, "Summer Pignic", in June 2011.[8] In September 2011, "Mooncake Festival" was released in conjunction with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.[9] In October 2011, "Ham'O'Ween" was released and introduced a new orange bird, known as Bubbles.[10] In December 2011, "Wreck the Halls" was released with 25 Christmas-theme levels also arranged in an Advent calendar setting.

2012

Season 2012 started in January 2012, when "Year of the Dragon" was released; it is about Chinese New Year. It features the replacement of the Mighty Eagle, the Mighty Dragon, that loops out the structures and defeats all the pigs; it is free to use. A Japanese Cherry Blossom season was announced on February 28, 2012, with a release date on March 7, 2012. In June 2012, Angry Birds Seasons added their twelfth season, Piglantis.[11] It was launched on June 14 and is the second summer based episode (the first episode being Summer Pignic). The main new feature in Angry Birds: Piglantis[12] is fluid physics: the birds, wood, and glass are buoyant in the water levels; however, the pigs and stone are too heavy to rise to the surface and sink down until they are defeated. In August 2012, "Back to School" was added, which introduces the pink bird, Stella. In October 2012 when Haunted Hogs was released and was the 3rd Halloween episode in the series. It added ghost blocks, which is visible to all items except the birds and the pigs unless they are inside them. On December 1, Winter Wonderham was released and was the 3rd Christmas episode in the series. Like the other Christmas episodes, it is set up as an advent calendar. It introduced slippery blue ice, that makes wood, ice, stone, birds and pigs slip on contact.

2013

Season 2013 began in May 2013, when Abra-Ca-Bacon based on World Circus Day was released; it has a magician theme and features magic portals, which can teleport materials, birds, or pigs from one portal to another. In December 2013 Arctic Eggspedition was released, the 4th Christmas episode, and it is once again set up as an advent calendar with one level unlocked per day or all unlocked with an in-app purchase. Season 3 or Season 2013 is the shortest episode in Seasons, with just two episodes.

2014

Season 2014 began in July 2014 with South Hamerica and Pig Days, an episode that has weekly unlocked levels. With this update, the seasons were renamed showing the release year, such as "Season 2011". On October 9, 2014, the game has been updated with "Ham Dunk", in celebration of the NBA Championships. On October 27, 2014, the Visit Finland Twitter account unveiled an image displaying Terrance swimming on a pool along a similar looking bird, colored blue, named "Tony the Blue", and the title "On Finn Ice", which is the 5th Christmas episode. The tweet also referred to the Finnish band Apocalyptica, who play the theme music for that episode. With this update, the episodes were arranged to the year they were released, not as it was previously; the "Winter Wonderham" episode, which was in Seasons 2013, was moved to Seasons 2012, as the episode was released in 2012.

2015

Season 2015 rang in February 2015, a 2nd part was added to Ham Dunk- "All-Star Weekend 2015", expanding the world to 60 levels (more than Trick or Treat, which has 45)- this update allowed the player to use Shockwave (electrical Bomb) for free, but only in Ham Dunk and for a limited time. At the extreme end of April (the 30th), a tropical world set on an unspecified Pacific island. The world was added in commemoration to Rovio's partnership with BirdLife International to save the birds of the Pacific. About a month later (June), a 3rd Ham Dunk update, celebrating The Finals, was added- ultimately expanding the total levels of Ham Dunk to 67. Between this update and the next was about 4 months, giving Rovio a "rest" and letting them handle other Angry Birds games. Finally, in October 2015, a 50's movie-themed world was added to the selection, titled "Invasion of the Egg Snatchers", which not only brought a new world, but BirdWear (costumes), which are unlocked in a scavenger hunt style, having the player search through levels they completed for certain items, and once 3 items were found (there is a 16-hour wait between obtaining items and an 8-hour wait to get a new mission), they would receive the costume, allowing the birds to (optionally) wear outfits during gameplay. Another new feature in the update was the Power-Up Test Zone, which lets the player test Power-Ups (with infinite uses). Finally, to wrap up 2015, "Ski or Squeal" was added (in the usual advent calendar style), taking place a top a frigid mountain summit.

2016

Season 2016 began on February 11, 2016 (2 months after the Angry Birds 6th birthday), a Valentine's Day episode was released, entitled "Fairy Hogmother", which is set in a fairytale storybook, featuring magic wands that trigger actions when hit, and (strangely) imprisoned Birds that give the player an extra Bird when the cage (holding the Bird) is destroyed. As spring rolled around about a month later, a new episode was released, called "Marie Hamtionette" (after Marie Antoinette, queen of France in the 1700s), which is set in the garden of Ludpig XVI's (Louis XVI) estate, complete with hedges and topiarys across a wide landscape. On June 27th, summer 2016 kicked off with a new summer-themed world entitled "Summer Camp", which is (hence the name) a summer camp set in a mountainous forest at dawn, including many popular activities one would find at a camp, including human swimming, archery, rock climbing, and many more popular summer activities. The summer 2016 update also added a new mode to the course of gameplay, "The Pig Challenge", which is set in a tournament style format, having players compete against friends and other players in a randomized set of weekly levels for trophies and power-ups. Fall 2016 started with "Piggywood Studios" where the Pigs reenact famous movie scenes from Indiana Jones, King Kong, The Angry Birds Movie, Aliens, Back to the Future and more. It continued with the Halloween episode "Hammier Things", which was based on TV series Stranger Things, and concluded with the Christmas episode "Ragnahog", which is set in a Nordic theme.

Ports

At the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, Rovio and distribution partner Activision announced plans to bring Angry Birds Seasons, along with the original Angry Birds and Angry Birds Rio, to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS systems.[13] Bundled together as Angry Birds Trilogy, the games will be built specifically for their respective consoles, taking advantage of their unique features, such as support for PlayStation Move, Kinect, high-definition displays and glasses-free 3D visuals.[13]

It is also available for Wii and Wii U as part of Angry Birds Trilogy.

Reception

The reception of Angry Birds Seasons has been positive. Tracy Erickson of Pocket Gamer said about the Halloween update, "The difficulty is steeper than in the original Angry Birds, which is likely an intentional consideration for those well-versed in the first game. This doesn't make Angry Birds Halloween unapproachable, but it does result in an undesirable increase in trial-and-error gameplay. Without the experience of playing the original, you can anticipate having to replay a lot of stages." He further mentioned, "Of course, these structural issues don't detract from what remains an entertaining game. Angry Birds Halloween is pleasantly more of the same, though you're best served by playing the original before tackling this holiday treat.[14]" Sarah Jacobsson of Macworld said about the Christmas update, "Unlike the original Angry Birds and Angry Birds Halloween, the Season’s Greetings track does not start out with a laughably easy level—after all, you only get one level a day, and Rovio wants to make you work for it." She further wrote, "Angry Birds Seasons brings fun, Christmas spirit to the most popular iOS game of the year. With the included Halloween track, you get a total of 69 challenging levels—definitely worth $0.99 (Angry Birds Seasons HD is $1.99).[15]" Abigail Holden of Lazygamer rated the game 8.5/10, saying, "Whether you’re new to Angry Birds or you've enjoyed the game on other platforms, Angry Birds Seasons for PC is worth to look at.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Richard Mitchell (October 21, 2010). "Angry Birds Halloween edition spooks iPad, iPhone". Joystiq.com. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Jeff Cormier (December 1, 2010). "Angry Birds Seasons goes live and free for iOS and Android". The Next Web. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Ewan Spence (December 17, 2010). "Review: Angry Birds Seasons". AllAboutSymbian.com. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  4. ↑ Vlad Bobleanta (December 1, 2010). "Angry Birds Seasons out for Android and iOS today, free to Halloween users". switched.com. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  5. ↑ Christina Warren (February 7, 2011). "Angry Birds Gets Facebook-Infused Valentine's Day Edition". Mashable.com. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Angry Birds Seasons Go Green, Get Lucky Update is Here!". March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  7. ↑ Chloe Albanesius (April 18, 2011). "Angry Birds Seasons Gets Easter Update". PCMag.com. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ Rob Hearn (June 22, 2011). "Angry Birds Seasons Summer Pignic update hits the App Store, adds 30 levels". PocketGamer.co.uk. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  9. ↑ Angry Birds Seasons Moon Festival Episode Released, IGN, 1 September 2011. Accessed on 2 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Official Promo for Ham'O'Ween. Accessed on 21 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Angry Birds Piglantis". David Nelson. 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
  12. ↑ "Angry Birds Piglantis Update". David Nelson. 2012-06-14. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
  13. 1 2 Greg Miller (2012-07-10). "Angry Birds Trilogy Coming to PS3, 360 and 3DS". ign.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  14. ↑ Erickson, Tracy. "Angry Birds Halloween". pocketgamer.co.uk. Steel Media Limited. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "Angry Birds Seasons". macworld.com. IDG Consumer & SMB. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  16. ↑ "Angry Birds Seasons review – Green Pigs and Ham?". lazygamer.net. Lazygamer. March 9, 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
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