Catch the Ark before floods catch you in this great 'endless rafter' on iOS

Earlier this month, we brought you a sneak preview of Catch the Ark, an endless runner of Biblical proportions starring three wacky animals that want nothing more than to reach Noah's Ark and escape the oncoming flood. When compared to other endless runners like Jetpack Joyride and Temple Run, Catch the Ark looks pretty typical, but in practice, it's one ride that's definitely worth catching.

Like Temple Run, Catch the Ark sees players moving away from the screen for the greatest distance possible before failing. Instead of running, our critters ride on a raft that can be moved left and right across the surface of the water by tapping on the appropriate side of the iPhone or iPad's screen. There are a slew of obstacles to avoid along the way, from piranhas and dinosaurs to rocks, explosive barrels, alligators (or are they crocodiles?) and more. While the raft can be moved freely across the water, there are three main pathways to stick to, with coins typically marking the safest of the three.

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Power-ups can be collected either while playing or purchased directly from the store. These boosts can include new boats or items like pterodactyls or parachutes, which can skip you past a specific number of meters automatically or return a fallen character to the raft, respectively. This parachute power-ups deals with the multiple lives players can toy with in each run. Rather than failing after a single mistake, Catch the Ark simply removes one of the three critters from the raft each time an error is made. After the third mistake, the game will still end, but at least you'll travel a few more meters before everything finally crumbles apart.

With the addition of missions, leader boards and Facebook connectivity, Catch the Ark has everything you'd expect and ultimately need in a solid endless runner, but it's the games graphics and presentation that really make it stand out. The game is simply beautiful. The initial jungle settings are full of life and color, while sunset (if you can reach it) brings about more muted colors via a seamless transition. The water rocks and "splashes" against the screen, and it's easy to get lost in how impressive the game looks, in addition to how well it plays.

There are times where the river seems a bit too wide in Catch the Ark, especially since you have full control over the boat's position in the water and the game isn't dependent on rigid paths. Still, if that's the only complaint we can come away with, I'd say Chillingo and PlaySide have done something great. Catch the Ark costs $0.99 and is now available to download on both iPhone and iPad.

Click here to download Catch the Ark for $0.99 >

Have you tried Catch the Ark on your iPhone or iPad? How do you think Catch the Ark compares to other endless runners? Sound off in the comments!