Why did Apple approve this money-guzzling Pokemon rip-off app?
UPDATE:
Super Monster Bros By Adventure Time Pocket Free now seems to have been removed from the App Store. But a quick search sees that a near-identical title called ‘Adventure Games Super Monster Bros Plus’ is still on sale. AVOID IT!
If you see your little one browsing the Apple App Store and venture anywhere near the Super Monster Bros By Adventure Time Pocket Free game, wrestle that thing from their hands IMMEDIATELY. It’s quite possibly the most cynical cash-grabbing rip off app we’ve ever seen.
As highlighted by the folks over at IGN, the app (which can barely really even be called a game) illegally uses Nintendo’s Pokemon characters and Mario sound effects, in a platformer where there’s no penalty for walking across gaping chasms.
But that’s not even the worst part. Upon firing up the app, you are instantly offered the option to purchase a £70 character which (we haven’t been foolish enough to lay down the cash and test this theory) looks only to offer another rip-off Pokemon reskin for the main character.
Extra lives cost money, as do even the fireball projectile attacks that can be burnt through in a matter of seconds.
Which begs the question: how did this ever get through Apple’s “stringent” App Store approval process? When apps like AppGratis (which aims to help App Store browsers get the best deals) get ejected from the App Store, how can the Cupertino company allow such shame-faced cash-grabs to make it onto the store? It plays so liberally with intellectual properties as to be a joke for starters, before you even look at the in app purchases, especially considering the scrutiny in-app purchases are currently under.
Apple need to pull this now, and give a slap on the wrist to whatever employee green lit its distribution.
