Angry Birds Friends Review: iPhone Vs. Android

 Oh, Angry Birds. Rovio's cash cow. You've loved it, you've hated it, you've spent countless hours on the toilet playing it. And now you can publicly humiliate your friends by showing off your skills on Facebook.

for this review I played both Android and iPhone versions. First up! Android:

My initial gripe with this game is that it forces you into a tutorial. It's Angry Birds. We all know how to play, right? Well, They've added a few Power-Ups to help you along (and to monetize). So the mandatory tutorial is annoying but not totally useless.

 After you finish 5 easy training levels, they let you play. You need to connect your Facebook account of course, which took a little longer than I would have expected.

THEN, they let you play Angry Birds. 

And it's still fun. While you play, and after you beat a level they show you how you rank among your friends. If they play. And at the moment...

...I have no friends but Red and Chuck. So I invited a friend, and He was quick to reply.

Weird that I need 2 notifications.

Angry Birds is Angry Birds. But with new levels every week that are fun, imaginative, and challenging, plus weekly tournaments are definitely enough to keep me interested, especially after getting other friends involved. Angry Birds isn't a hard sell. The Android Version is a bit sluggish, even with my powerhouse of a phone. the Wifi I was using was a little slow, but the iPhone didn't have any of the lag issues the Android did.

Moving on to the iPhone version:

So, even though I already played the tutorial on my Android, I need to do it again... Lame...

Connecting to Facebook was a breeze on the iPhone, as usual. And it was nice to see that, after logging in, all of my progress was saved, and my friend had already beaten my high score! Which shouldn't surprise me since this game has been out for a while on Facebook. It's nice that I can lose my phone and not lose my progress, high scores, or power-ups.

As smooth as the iPhone version was, I do prefer playing on the larger screen of my HTC. I have big thumbs. And overall there's not a lot that's different between the two version. Rovio has the man power to ensure continuity on all platforms.

The Verdict:

When it comes down to it, Screen size and resolution of Android Vs. slight performance enhancements of the iPhone (depending on your Android model, of course). If you are still in the mood for some Angry Birds, Friends will definitely quench your thirst for months to come. If, that is, Rovio can consistently pump out fresh level ideas. There's only so many castle variations you can make before it gets stale.