Sky Dancer: Free Falling Reviews

by MrSavaage

Without warning (as far as I know) the latest update has erased my (years of) progress and deleted all the characters, money, stars and extras I EARNED! Why would you do that??? Seriously?!? That's how you get one star reviews!
You have obviously not absorbed any of my older reviews....NOTIFY YOUR LOYAL PLAYERS OF MAJOR CHANGES AND EXPLAIN THEM!!!
*older review notes below*
Also, there is a counter that pops up in the top center of the screen with other player profile pics, but you haven't explained what that is? Is that how far i have to go to catch up to that player? With so many changes to what was a simple app (all at once, including how points are calculated) it is a bit confusing and could be remedied by clearly explaining a few things!
-iphone6 on 10.3.3-
(*Old review below, ***issues were never fixed so i had to update iOS)
Looove this game but the new version (1.6 now) STILL won't load! Just sticks on a white screen. I just got a new character too, argh! Please fix!! Will gladly change rating to 5stars after fix.
(Using iPhone 6 on 8.1.2, I know, old iOS haha, don't judge)
It's been waaaay too long since a version worked on my phone (1.4 i think). This is the only app that has this issue.

by Ify-Leks

So, just today they released an update....after taking like over 3 months of waiting. And to what gain?. I was happy an update had arrived, but to my greatest disappointment...lemi be clear, DISAPPOINTMENT. The game is still buggy. I can’t still beat my high score because the game crashes once I’m a few points to beating my high score... come on, do the developers even read these reviews???
Also, for God’s sake, why haven’t they fixed the shadow button in settings? It doesn’t even work. There are no shadows in the game, except the black spot below each character which I assume they want us to believe it’s a shadow..🙄🙄. Now to upgrade your skills, you now spend double or should I say triple the price? Why?
So water world is still no go, yet after all these while...sigh.
This game has been ruined. I’ve been a devoted lover of this game right from time but now, I’m on the edge of deleting it very soon if a solid update isn’t out to make all players of this game happy once more.

Please I beg you developers, read these reviews, especially mine. Please read it. Coz no one is going to pay anything to even play a game that’s broken, not to mention the bombardment of ads and a bid to pay to get them removed. Fix the game first!! Pleaseee.
Thank you.

by Karikurls

When this game first came out it was reasonable.
The play is not any better than when it belonged to other developers. The scoring system went completely absurd. The dancers cost an obscene amount of money. There is no scoring of stars anymore. Before this game was sold to this band of amateurs one could score coins into the thousands and stars daily into the hundreds. The dancers were buyable as coins equaled cash. Now there is a shard system, each shard costing hours of play and multiple dollars in upgrades and one shard yeah, it takes 100,000 shards at 10,000 coins per shard. An average run only yields about 500 coins. I’ve contacted these people asking where my dancers went years ago when they bought this game and I’ve emailed them several times since then still with nom reply. I have spent a lot of time on this game and money. My purchases have never shown up and I get so frustrated that I am out of energy and just give up and forget about it. It’s not fun when you don’t get any rewards TOPO

by Potato_Overlord

Gameplay is great. Controls are easy to use and the challenges make sure you never get bored. Graphics are pleasing, and there a tons of characters for you to unlock.

However, the coins needed to purchase characters is ridiculous, especially at the rate it takes to earn coins. It's impossible to realistically buy some of the characters unless you pay lots of money.

The bigger issue is crashing. The game would crash every once and a while before, but now the game is completely unplayable. It crashes on the loading screen every time now, and restarting my device doesn't change anything. It's a shame to have to have to give up on a such a good game.

by 3rorr

I’ve had Sky Dancer ever since it was released and it’s pretty much the only game I visit every week (if not every day).

Unfortunately, I’ve encountered many bugs since the ‘major’ update.

For starters, it’s not NEARLY as smooth as it was when it was released. I pretty much lag at every point in this game. I’m forced to jump early to avoid lag from happening before I leave the platform, resulting in me missing the next platform.

This lag is especially prominent when I have a Felix. They only make me lag extra and so I constantly die when I use them, so I don’t ever use them.

The new zone is a really neat idea but (surprise) I lag EVEN more on that world then the default world.

The ‘Slo-Mo’ power-up is useless. The game goes in and out of lagging when it is on.

The ‘star’ currency is officially the worst idea for a currency, as you can barely get one in a run.

The most frustrating bug is that 3/4 of the time I start up the game, it crashes on the loading screen.

Overall, this game is excellent but seriously needs the bugs to be ironed out and the currency to be tweaked.

Thanks for reading.

by AL.9371

I used to play this ALL the time and it’s an immensely fun and chill game. I’ll probably start playing it again. What I take issue with is that when they started rolling updates while I left SkyDancer for a while there were so many that it RESTARTED ALL OF MY PROGRESS. I would encourage the creators not to do that. I waited around for updates and never saw my progress returned, all the way back to the beginning. A very huge disappointment. Although I mostly played more as a time passer that just did not sit right with me, and it sucked to be back to the original character with no advancements in the power ups—lack of getting far in the game.

by Bwherman

Edit: The game is OK, but at every single opportunity you are hit with an ad. I don't mind ads for a free game, but come on. Got a phone call? You're getting an ad. Didn't restart automatically? Prepare for an ad. No reason? You'll get an ad. And they will all be the same ad. Also, mission tracking is terrible. There have been literally dozens of times where I completed a particularly hard mission, only for me to come back to the game later to find I have to do it again. At its most basic, the game is fun, but these items make me turn to other runners.

Decent game. The jumps are definitely epic. Control while in the air is a tad finicky to master but I enjoy wasting a few minutes here and there with it.

by Buckerooski

After you finish a run, it takes an inordinate amount of time to start the next run. First it asks if you want to continue, then it zooms you back out, then it leaves you at the main menu, then when you tap to start another run, the animation seems to take forever to get to the point where you’re actually controlling the character again.

The devs could take a hint from other games in how fast to start the next run. (Hint: count, in seconds, how long you’re sitting there NOT running in between runs. The ideal would be between 0-1 seconds. Just get me back into the action!

I think if the developers had spent as much time on their gameplay as they did on their art, I may have been persuaded to keep the game on my phone. As it is, it has been deleted.

by Faephoric

This game can be so great and relaxing - the soundtrack never gets old and you never feel pressure.
Unless you're slogging through the horribly unfair weekly challenges. You might just barely get past the first chest after using all those free ads and you may still only get some lame power ups instead of the character pieces you're actually there for. And that's IF the free ads work as they should; often it'll leave you stuck in an infinite loading screen and force you to close the game, forgoing any rewarda you may have unlocked earlier in that run.
I enjoy the difficulty of the weekly challenge, but I wish it wasn't so much of a grind. We get more puzzle pieces just collecting the regular ones in regular runs for gods' sake! Just make it more enjoyable. Please.

by DJ B1591

The developers have ruined this game with recent updates. This game could have been great with tweaks. Now ads are all over the place now and constantly bombarding you to the point that you spend more time trying to close them than playing the game. They also finally unveiled a new world which I’ve been looking forward to, but now you have to achieve a certain distance in insane mode, or pay over $5 to unlock it. Problem is I can’t get to insane mode because it keeps telling me “run more 1,800ft in hard mode to unlock insane mode”. What does that even mean? I assume run 1,8000ft or more in hard mode, right? Wrong. Nothing works. I hope they come to their senses and fix this once very good game.

by MigMeister General

A very pleasant variation of the classic runner. The environment is minimalist yet very cleanly rendered. I enjoy the day and night shifts during the runs. The music is ethereal and calming which makes it less aggravating when you miss platforms - you almost don't mind at all. The falling sensation is awesome. No jarring crash or splat (which makes the decision to come back and try again that much easier.) The controls or rather touchy when falling - this is definitely for the patient gamer.
I do wish one could remain in challenge mode once it has been selected instead of having to return to the start and reengage it.
The character costs are rather high and discourage grinding and the lack of variable environments also make it less likely that you'll spend lots of time here trying to accumulate the coins needed to buy the more expensive characters.
I also don't see the point of including the "Satan" character - it seems jarringly out of context given such a mellow mood that's being established.
Otherwise it's a nice game whether you like a short run or a challenge.

by Somnum

EDIT::
I deleted the game entirely from my device and reinstall it, which resulted in losing all the characters I earned. But, the silver lining is that now the game is playable. The new characters and relics are interesting additions. All in all, still a great game, highly addicting, easy to lose time in.

How is it that so many people can play this game, yet I no longer can? After one of the previous updates, the game ceased to function. I open SkyDancer , and it freezes on the initial loading screen. I force-quit and restart, and it still doesn't work. I loved this game so much when I was still able to play it. But now? It doesn't even work.

by Moukeefe

This is a fun game to play. I like the trancy music and the way it feels like I’m really falling and flying through the air. One issue I have, it’s a small thing but enough to make me want to trash SkyDancer . If you feel it necessary to have comments such as “you might want make the platform next time” then it would be nice to be able to turn that off in settings. I don’t know where this game was developed so it could be a cultural thing but a lot of people including myself feel it’s insulting to state the obvious, constantly. It’s like being heckled by a stoned, passive aggressive teenager between each round. It would be more to the point if it said “idiot”.
And along the same lines, I played the game for the first time for about 20 minutes. I was picking it up and doing pretty well and got one or two long runs in. After those runs I would restart and on the first jump I’m prompted to press the screen with both thumbs to jump... really? The first thing I think is, this game must be calculating and compiling statistics on gameplay comprehension from players all around the globe and it’s just letting me know that my ability to retain the one primary action in this game ranks right around, a potato, or a moron at best. It seems like the game could be really relaxing and meditative but after twenty minutes I was just tense and irritated. Which I’m sure will still linger next time I’m looking for a game to play.

by Eddie Offermann

In my prior review (from a year or so ago), I was critical of the excessive ads. It appears they took complaints seriously because paying for an ad-free upgrade is now a thing and very much addressed the problem. There are paid boosts and optional ads, but it no longer feels like pay-to-win or watch-ads-to-win.

This game is beautiful, addictive, and it seems like there's always a new odd character to play. It's a lot of fun. It's a unique contribution to the Endless Runner genre.

Only complaints:
There needs to be a tutorial or at least a "Help" page that describes what some of the terms mean and how you're meant to accomplish them. Terms like "Perfect Grind" aren't self-explanatory and even when you do them accidentally, the notifications are small enough that they're easy to miss - so it's hard to determine how you've done them.

Currently, selecting to resurrect your character offers an ad-supported option. This worked for a while but recently it locks the game up about 90% of the time for me, requiring a force quit and relaunch to continue. I suspect it's not connecting with their ad service - but recovery needs to be more gentle. If it can't load, it should probably time out and eventually treat you to a resurrection. At the very least it should return to giving you the option of using stars to resurrect. Currently I'm rarely choosing to resurrect.

by JustGo!!

The character Azura (even though she floats) needs a landing sound. It doesn't make sense that she has a sound when jumping to a platform at same height or higher than current one but when diving to lower platforms no confirmation sound for the land. Some of the platforms require the player to pretty much skip on so not knowing if you've even touched the platform/landed makes that nearly impossible.

I just fell through a platform that I should have been safe on. I also have hit rocks that I'm already passed when diving. Getting close to the rocks while diving is required in game so it would be nice if the programming of floating rock SIZE match what the games visuals display.

Still a fun game. My kids and I are enjoying it.

by Rdogyoloswag

When I first played this game I was immediately reminded of Alto’s Adventure. The one-touch based gameplay, the minimalistic scenery, the mission-multiplier concept, and most of all the smooth and relaxing atmosphere.
The only thing is that the weekly challenges are rather time consuming if you’re not an experienced player, and the golden chest only has a 30% main-reward rate. It should be higher. But that’s a me problem.
Great game, thanks for putting it out there. And for making it free(better than Alto?).

by Goreshank

Had this for a while, and would play occasionally, but two things made jump to the top of daily play list: the inclusion of the relics system and me getting half decent. The first made it more dynamic, and the second is just a function of playing and actually understanding when I made a great jump or sequence.

As others have noted, this is a beautiful game, and I think with a few little inclusions in future iterations and it will be on plenty of "best of" lists. (Air moves for extra points? Activating abilities for different characters? Different speeds, jump distances, etc for characters? Variable routes to jump?)

by Dark Nom

I have played this game religiously ever since it was released. I have some suggestions though. In the old version, there was one game mode where the infinite run got progressively more difficult as your score raised. I think that this still should be an option that maybe starts in normal and then gets harder and harder until it reaches the difficulty of around 1800 ft in insane. I also found a bug in the weekly hunt where if you press the slow-mo button and you die, then you revive yourself, you will have infinite slow-mo power. Also there is a player tip in the loading screen with a grammatical error: “Upgrade YOU power ups to enjoy each fall even more.” I love this game though.

by HawktalonOfRiverClan

Great endless runner with different enough gameplay that it's set apart from all the others in the genre, and that's not even counting the graphics. Takes some skill to master but once you do it becomes quite peaceful and relaxing. Challenges and daily rewards give you a reason to keep playing. Would definitely recommend this game.

To the devs: Please make the shadows actually follow the light source. Right now, the shadows are always behind you no matter where the sun or moon is. I like that the shadows respond to how the map is situated but that's not how shadows work. Also the sun and moon should not be visible when the map makes a 180° turn. There are several typos that need addressing and please bring back the lore blurbs for the characters. That was a really nice touch.

by Ramboriot

I've played this game more than I've played any other phone game in my life. I am 12th in the world with high score of around 420,000. I think this game is overall amazing. Great art. Great mechanics. Great character design and frequent updates. I really love the new relic system, even more so that the relics stack on each other. Some problems I have are weird bugs at different times. For example sometimes I precise jump and go waaaay further than it should go. Or I can't move left or right. Not often, but frustrating. There are a lot of typos but I don't think the developers are English so it makes sense. I would love to see more characters, more store items to purchase (like revives, coin magnets,etc) and more environments.

Otherwise, fantastic game! I wanna be number one in the world! I'm very close!