Why You Can Trust CNET Angry Birds Rio flutters its way onto iPhone and iPad for blockbuster fun
Game developer Rovio Mobile has released a new version of Angry Birds -- Angry Birds Rio -- for the iPhone and iPad. It's based on the upcoming animated movie Rio.
Good news, pigs. There's a new version of Angry Birds on the App Store, and it brings an end to the fluttery porkist violence of the original games. Angry Birds Rio is out for the iPhone and iPad, and is an official tie-in for the upcoming bird-related animated movie Rio.
As with your regular Angry Birds, the new game is available in two separate versions: you'll pay 59p for the iPhone game, and £1.79 for the HD iPad edition. It's a shame it's not a universal app that works across both for one price, though, as we think a fair number of people will want to buy both.
There's a plot, as there must be, given the film tie-in. Stolen eggs are out, and kidnapped mates are in. The Angry Birds have been captured and taken to Rio de Janeiro, but after escaping, they now have to find their kidnapped friends Blu and Jewel -- the stars of the movie.
As we said, the big difference is that the poor brutalised pigs are given a rest, leaving you to fling your birds at cages to release other birds, before some monkeys get in on the action too. Angry Birds Rio has 60 levels split across two episodes, with developer Rovio promising more episodes to come in updates later this year.
The gameplay has been tweaked with hidden fruits to discover as you play through the levels, while there's also an intriguing mention of a "spectacular boss fight", although we're still playing through to find out what that means exactly.
Otherwise it's business as usual, with the same addictive gameplay that's led to 100 million downloads for existing Angry Birds games across various devices. Even if you're not fussed about the Rio film, the addition of the new characters at least freshens up the action a little.
Can't get enough of this 'Hollywood movie version of popular iOS game' thing? Allow us to also point you in the direction of Doodle Jump: HOP The Movie, which is not only a rejigged version of the popular bouncy iPhone game based on Russell Brand's new film, but is also free.
By the way, if you're an Android phone owner wondering when you'll get Angry Birds Rio... well, Amazon's new Appstore for Android has an exclusive on that version. The store briefly went live in the US this morning, including a promotion reducing the price of Rovio's new game to free. At the time of writing, the store has disappeared again, so that link may not work.