Not being a canoeist, the first thing that springs to my mind when talking about the narrow single-person boat is Deliverance, a film rather oddly described by some canoeing sites as ‘the ultimate canoe adventure movie!’  Well, if that’s the way canoeists describe Deliverance, then I don’t think I’d fit in very well down at the local club, as an adventure in my book is something at least partially enjoyable and, for me anyway, the events in Deliverance rarely look that.

So, to get my canoeing jollies, I’ve had to turn to an unlikely alternative; the iPhone.  Luckily, today sees the release of Canoe Slalom (iTunes link), a scrolling, top-down 2D game which puts you in a canoe ahead of 20 different slalom courses, running at either a beginners pace or a fast-flowing expert level.  Can it satisfy my lust for the canoeing life, or will it leave me high and dry?

Graphically, Canoe Slalom won’t be winning any awards, as there are few colours and the 2D-style is uninspiring and occasionally, a bit bland.  But it works well here, as although you could have super animated water and detailed backgrounds, the garnish would distract from the simple gameplay.  Remember SkiFree?  That looks far worse and still is a hoot to play, and the same applies here.

What makes Canoe Slalom standout is the control system that has been created.  Instead of simply going forwards or backwards, you imitate a rowing action by sliding your thumbs down the left and right hand side of the screen.  You can choose between ‘realistic’ and ‘arcade’ mode, where arcade works as you would expect – swiping left turns left – and realistc turns the world upside down and left turns right.  Personally, using realistic mode was like riding one of those fairground bicycles where the wheel turns the opposite way to the handlebars – and equally as frustrating!  I stuck with arcade.

This could have been a token gesture, a means to sell the game, but the controls are all so precise and sensitive that it takes skill and practice to master them.  For the first few goes, going in a straight line is a considerable challenge, but the more you settle down and build a rhythm, the more natural it becomes.  Soon you’ll be paddling with the best of them.

The courses are standard slalom efforts, where there are downstream and upstream gates to pass through and outcrops to navigate around.  Each timed run ends with either a bronze, silver or gold medal, unless you’ve been so slow that you don’t get anything at all.  Get above silver in each run and you’ll unlock the fast alternative, where the water flows faster and you’ll need quick reactions to complete them.

In addition to the slalom course, there is an endurance mode where you must pass through as many gates as possible before the timer runs out.  Each gate adds 2 seconds to your time.

At first I was a little underwhelmed by Canoe Slalom, as the controls felt a little awkward and guiding the canoe around the course was frustrating because of it.  However, a tweak of the control’s sensitivity under the options menu and some perseverance revealed an addictive game.  Once you start to get the hang of the left/right swipe you can make the little boat dance across the water, a process which also uncovers some clever water dynamics, and beating your time in pursuit of those elusive gold medals becomes an enjoyable pastime.

Elusive is the right word too, as the times needed to get them are really, really tight – you’ll have to practice for a long time before you get all golds here.  This will contribute to the longevity of the game, but whether you’ll have the patience to keep returning to complete the game is another thing.

Canoe Slalom is ideally priced at $0.99/£0.59 and provides plenty of fun and games for the casual gamer.  The graphics may be basic, the sound functional rather than outstanding, but there is no denying Canoe Slalom is an entertaining arcade game where practice reveals hidden depths, but thankfully no bodies or banjo-strumming hillbillies.

4/5