At lunch time on Wednesday, we were a bit hesitant to post a story about the Marketplace updating late. What if it updated within the next few minutes after the post went live? As it turns out, we needn’t have worried. Sally’s Spa, this week’s Xbox live release, finally went live around 1 am EST Thursday. That’s officially the latest a Windows Phone Xbox live game has ever been posted. Cheers?
There is some good news, however. While Game House quoted the game’s price as $4.99 to us, it’s actually showing up at $2.99 right now. Could the lower price be a mistake? I don’t know, but if you’re interested in helping Sally start her own spa chain, I would advise buying now rather than waiting. That price increase on Fling makes me antsy! But you know, $2.99 certainly is fair for Sally’s Spa given that it’s a bit shorter than its predecessor Sally’s Salon and retails for $2.99 on iOS anyway.
The story of Sally’s Spa starts out with Sally relaxing on a beach, pondering what her next business endeavor should be. A friend suggests the spa biz, and pretty soon the two go into business! It’s simple but definitely better drawn than the previous game. The in-game sprites also look much nicer, as they are much larger in resolution.
During gameplay now, you’ll need to scroll the screen up and down to see the entire playing field. It isn’t a huge hassle as you might think, but tapping an object on the periphery to interact with it doesn’t work that well, forcing players to go through the extra step of scrolling. Heck, even the main menu requires scrolling despite the fact that everything could’ve fit on screen at once. Feels a bit like a tablet game stuck on a phone in a hurry.
Scrolling aside, Sally’s Spa plays much like the original game, but prettier and with a few new mechanics. If you’ve been wanting a new time management game or an excuse to put hot rocks on someone’s back, that’s all the excuse you should need.
Sally’s Spa costs $2.99 and there is a free trial. Get it here on the Marketplace.
Thanks to Zebrasqual for the tip!
