Angry Birds Rio
Angry Birds Rio was a 2011 puzzle video game developed and published by Rovio Entertainment. It is the third installment in the "Angry Birds" series. "Angry Birds Rio" was released for devices using iOS and Mac OS X, as well as Android in March 2011. The game was released as a marketing tie-in with the 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios animated films "Rio" and "Rio 2", and was promoted with those movies. While utilizing the same basic gameplay as "Angry Birds", "Angry Birds Rio" added a number of new elements, most notably the first  use of boss levels. The game was discontinued on February 3, 2020, along with "Angry Birds Star Wars" and "Angry Birds Star Wars II". Gameplay. In "Rio", Red, Chuck, and the Blues have been birdnapped and taken to Rio by the Smugglers under the orders of an evil cockatoo named Nigel, the main antagonist from the film. Just as in the original "Angry Birds", players use a slingshot to launch the birds at nearby structures, with the intent of hitting targets located on or within them. Instead of the pigs that have stolen eggs, players must now rescue caged exotic  birds or defeat Nigel's marmosets, depending on the level being played. Because of the game's setting, several characters from "Rio" make appearances. Blu and Jewel both feature as types of bird exclusive to this game, along with all the existing birds from the series. The game also includes the first boss fights to appear in the series, when the player uses the birds to defeat Nigel, as well as Mauro, the leader of the marmosets. In other levels, Luiz helps defeat the marmosets and destroys materials and blocks to get the player extra points, as well as hidden  items to collect as the player progresses through the game. Release. "Angry Birds Rio" initially included two chapters, "Smugglers' Den" and "Jungle Escape", each with 30 levels. Since then, the game has been expanded with three additional 30-level chapters called "Beach Volley" (released in May 2011), "Carnival Upheaval" (released in June 2011), and "Airfield Chase" (released in August 2011) along with a 15-level chapter, "Golden Beachball", which is unlocked by finding a hidden item in "Beach Volley" (iOS, Android) or by entering a redeem code from "Rio" DVD (PC, Mac). A final chapter named "Smugglers' Plane" (released in  November 2011) was released with initially with 15 levels, with the final 15 levels released later (January 2012). Each chapter has a special fruit that may be rarely found as gold. "Smugglers' Den" has pineapples, "Jungle Escape" has bananas, "Beach Volley" has watermelons, "Carnival Upheaval" has papayas, "Airfield Chase" has apples, "Smugglers' Plane" has mangoes, "Market Mayhem" has strawberries, and "Rocket Rumble" has golden rockets. In July 2013, the "Golden Beachball" episode received 15 more levels, golden cherries, a new background, and this episode is now available from the start of the game. In March 2012, the Trophy Room update  was released, with 12 new levels that are each unlocked when a player finishes a chapter or collects all 15 of a certain golden fruit. This update was first released in the Android (Amazon Appstore ad-free) version before making its way to iOS. On December 18, 2012, a new update landed for iOS and Android adding 24 new levels. This levels are earned by getting from 30 to 70 stars on each episode or by earning 10 Mighty Eagles' Feathers on each episode (4 extra levels on each episode). This episode also added Power-Ups. The Power-Ups were  Super Seeds and Sling Scope from the Angry Birds original app and 2 new power-ups (Samba Burst and TNT Drop, which this has been seen on a previous Angry Birds Friends Christmas Tournament). On March 11, 2013, another update was released, adding a "Market Mayhem" episode with 34 levels (3 stars levels and 1 Mighty Eagle level). On July 25, 2013, "AB Rio"s app icon was updated and Golden Beachball added a golden fruit and 15 new levels. In addition, The trophy room levels were combined into the episode they were earned from. Four "Angry Birds Rio" episodes — all  visually tied to "Rio 2" was released from December 2013 to July 2014 and these episodes featured refreshed graphics. The Timber Tumble episode adds a hint feature that tells where to sling the bird. In the July 2015, a game update added bird coins that allow players to unlock levels that were previously locked. Ports. At the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, Rovio and distribution partner Activision announced plans to bring "Angry Birds Rio" and two other games, the original "Angry Birds" and "Angry Birds Seasons", to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS systems. Bundled  together as "Angry Birds Trilogy", the games will be built specifically for their respective consoles, taking advantage of their unique features, such as support for PlayStation Move, Kinect, high-definition displays, and glasses-free 3D visuals. It is also available for Wii and Wii U as part of "Angry Birds Trilogy". Reception. The game has received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 87/100 based on 18 reviews. Ryan Rigney of "GamePro" saying the iOS version "boasts some notable improvements on its predecessors" and Levi Buchanan of IGN, in his review of the Android version, calling the game "a  smart, snappy new chapter for the series". Jim Squires of Gamezebo complimented the game's attempts to add new material and mechanics, saying "some evolution needs to happen if it wants to have the long term staying power of a "Mario" or a "Pac-Man"." However, Squires did take issue with the new boss battles, calling them "a little anti-climactic". Tracy Erickson of "Pocket Gamer" noted that "what "Angry Birds Rio" lacks in new ideas and freshness, it makes up in quality gameplay and good value". Since release, "Angry Birds Rio" has been downloaded more than 10 million times , and it has been one of the top downloaded games at both the Apple App Store and Google Play.