So, I spent the past week or so playing Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow on mobile. However, now I am starting all over. I did not realize that there would be no visible way to save my data/transfer it to a new phone. Nor is it linked to my Facebook that I’m aware of. So … that aside, it’s a terrific mobile game that you ought to play. They spent a lot of time getting original, new animation done for the game, with all the original voice actors taking a dive back into the franchise. I miss Futurama. I did not appreciate it when it originally aired because I had grown tired of the Simpsons and did not want to give Groening’s other work a fair shake. I’m sorry, Matt Groening. I was wrong. But what is “Worlds of Tomorrow”? Is it an action game? A puzzle game? Is it a Tell-Tale style game? [God I’d play the Hell out of that, thinking back] No! It’s something greater. It’s part city-building idle time, part mobile turn-based action game. Though it’s more like an ATB system like Final Fantasy 2 or 3 [a meter fills up and when it’s time, they attack], which I’ll get into briefly. But this is a mostly phenomenal game, and I can tell they truly love the series, and possibly miss it as much as me.
New New York and the rest of the Universe is pretty much shattered, and we blame The Hypnotoad. With the help of the 1-X Robot, you rebuild New New York, using Hypnotons that you gain from going on Missions [sort of like episodes/deliveries] where all the combat happens. The X-1 clears out zones for you to put new buildings and unlock missions/characters. This is where one of the things happened that slowed me down. Missions on other planets have the main route and some side-routes, that you can only unlock using certain conditions [Have Robot Fry, have Bender, the Professor, etc] but the Hypnotons can only be gained once. You gain some Hypnotons for completing the mission, but you don’t have a lot of Ship fuel, so you have to wait. It can feel very frustrating to do the same missions over and over just to clear another section of New New York in order to progress the game, but I still have a lot of fun. In order to unlock characters, you have to unlock the building or zone in the city that they’re in and perform a series of actions. So, each character as they gain levels, unlock new actions. For example, Fry can “Do the Hustle”, “Deliver a package perfectly“, Amy can “charge her cell phone”, “Embrace her robosexuality”, and “Curse in Chinese”. The higher level the action, the longer these can take to finish.
You can also get rent from buildings, which also takes some time to get. There is some waiting involved if you have not noticed yet. It’s also important to note you get exp from those rent claims, so do take time for that. This is account level, mind. Character levels come from Career Chips, which you apply to the character. So what do you do with all this waiting? Is there a way around it? You can spend Pizza to speed things up a bit. Pizza is the “real currency” that you can get as the game progresses, or spend money on. You don’t need it, but it is pretty handy. As you progress in building the story/gain levels on characters, you can unlock more missions to unlock characters and more Space Missions! So let’s talk about that a bit. You start off with access to Omicron Persei 8 and then Mars. You get a few more planets, and I’m sure they’ll add more as time goes on. So you build a team, kind of like an away team on Star Trek, but it’s more like a delivery team because this is still Futurama. You fly on a map and occasionally you go into battle with Omicronians, Native Martians, Killer Space Bees, etc. You can have up to four characters on the team, and so far I’ve had Fry, Amy, Farnsworth, and Bender. You can get more I’m sure. Each character in battle has a meter and when it fills, friend or foe, they automatically attack. If you tap the screen when that person’s circle [under their feet] is full, it’s an auto crit or defense, which lowers the damage you take. They have a special you can pop when their box is full too which has their face in it [bottom middle of screen].
Good News! It’s Fun! 4/5
This is a game that really remains true to Futurama, something that not all franchises get [a good game]. It can drag or you can feel like it’s going to slow down when you have to grind/wait. But, part of me doesn’t think that’s so bad, because that way you take a step back from the game, wait a while, and come back later in the day. Moderation’s important, friends. Though it’s a loving, accurate interpretation of the TV series, the dialogue feels right, none of it feels forced [though a lot of it is weird. It’s Futurama, after all]. It’s been an absolute blast, and though I lost a ton of work, which I’m a little surly about, it’s still a lot of fun, and that’s okay with me.
