Minion Rush (2018-present)

Minion Rush
This game is truly despicable now.
Genre(s): Endless runner Platform(s): Android iOS Microsoft Windows Release: June 10, 2013 Engine: Unity Developer(s): Gameloft Publisher(s): Gameloft Country: France Series: Despicable Me

Minion Rush is an endless runner mobile game in the same vein of other popular mobile games like Subway Surfers and Temple Run. It was developed and published by Gameloft for Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows. Ever since the 5-year anniversary update in 2018, the game has gone downhill.

Why It's Despicable Now

1. The main problem with the game nowadays is that it just doesn't feel like an endless runner anymore unlike Subway Surfers, Temple, Run, etc., both games having the exact same gameplay ever since they were released unlike this game, where Gameloft completely revamped the entire game. There are also a huge lack of features compared to previous versions. They said they did this in order to provide a more "modern" experience of the game to players, when in reality it just ruined the entire game.
2. Ever since the 5 Year Celebration update, the game has gone downhill. Several aspects of the game were discontinued such as Downtown (an old map), the Jelly Lab, Minion Races and Events, Power-Ups, Props and Mini Games, the Golden Banana and Golden Shield, etc..
   • Despicable Points (one of the most iconic features of the game, given that its based on the Despicable Me franchise) are no longer directly earned for knocking out other Minions in your way, as it has changed to simply "punching" Minions and earning a few rewards for doing so, and its only shown after you complete a mission.
   • There were even boss fights in older versions of the game, such as Vector, El Macho, and Meena that were removed or were reduced to much more smaller roles in the game.
3. Instead of running endlessly, the game has you do "missions", such as collecting enough bananas, jumping or rolling enough times, etc., and as soon as you complete your "mission", you're done running. The missions themselves are also repetitive as they frequently cycle throughout these same few types of missions every time.
4. Similar to Angry Birds 2, the game now has a stamina system, meaning that you can only run when your energy/tickets/whatever replenishes rather than running whenever you want, which is unacceptable for an endless runner, even if its so that the player doesn't get "too addicted" to the game.
5. The new update caused a lot of players to lose all of their progress, forcing them to restart from 0, unless if they use the "transferring" system which is flawed, which will be explained in the next pointer. Anything the player collected or equipped would have to be redone again.
6. The transferring system is flawed, as a majority of the items that you would have collected would be converted into nothing but coins and less valuable items in general, which is again, unacceptable. Everything else would need to be redone from scratch.
7. The game requires an Internet connection to play, otherwise it won't work, unlike in older versions which allowed you to play offline.
8. Some of the paid costumes come with multipliers for the collectibles, such as bananas and banana splits, in which they are pointless as these multipliers are given to the player at all times while they're playing a mission.
9. Similar to Mario Kart Tour, the game seems to be focusing a lot more on cosmetics (particularly costumes), in-app purchases, and tokens, the main currency of the game alongside bananas.
10. The controls, while solid, can still be unresponsive at times. Even if you swipe, your Minion won't change lanes and instead crash into the obstacle in front of him.
11. Some of the missions go on for far too long, such as a mission that requires you to collect 75 spoons, which is impossible as you almost always lose the run, and it takes a while just to collect one spoon, making the game feel unplayable.
    • What makes it even worse is that revives are too expensive, costing 20 tokens for one revival, 40 for a second revive, and so on.
      • While you can watch an ad to revive, you can only do it once.
    • It's also repetitive, as the game keeps on cycling between the same few maps, even if its for the exact same mission.
12. Speaking of the ads, they are overly excessive, as they play every almost single time you complete, fail, or end a mission, with them being hard to click out of, especially on iOS. There are also ads that show in-game, showing how greedy Gameloft is these days.
13. It is very easy to get ripped off from prize pods (the main focus of the game now), as even the ones that cost a lot of tokens (such as 200) don't have things that make it worth it, as they usually only give you one powerup and a few multiplied costumes. That's it.
14. Gameloft does not let users download (or even play) older versions of the game, because even if you do, there will just be a popup saying that there is a new update available, with no way to get out of it. They also strike down any APKs for older versions of the game that is uploaded onto file hosting websites, such as Google Drive and Mediafire.
15. Poor optimization, as the game can lag heavily or even crash instantly on mobile upon entering a mission sometimes. There is also no way to scale down the graphics in the pause menu as well. The only options are to either end the mission or resume.
16. The PC version barely gets any updates compared to the Android/iOS versions, probably because it is more popular on the latter two than the former. It is also no longer possible to play it on Windows 8.1 anymore due to its Microsoft Store being shut down.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The graphics are still good for that of 2013 mobile game standards.
2. The controls are still solid, despite being unresponsive at times.
3. It is still very faithful to the Despicable Me franchise, despite a majority of the features being stripped out in favor of new (and inferior) ones.
4. The game was much better game in its earlier years (2013-2017) before the 5 Year Celebration update and when Gameloft revamped the entire game. Click here to see its positive page.

Reception

Even though it has high ratings on both the Google Play and Apple App Store respectively, the new versions received mixed-to-negative reactions from fans ever since the 5 year anniversary update, mainly due to the massive removal of iconic features, the transition from running endlessly to only being able to play missions, and it overall not having the same authentic experience as it used to.

External links

• Gameloft announcing that they will revamp the entire game in the 5 Year Celebration update

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