Console: iOS
Date Released: February 16, 2012
Date Reviewed: March 03, 2012
Reviewer: Reid
Pros
* Easy to pick up side-scrolling action
* Controls are responsive
* Great level design
Cons
* Great price point ($0.99)
* Until more levels are added, short game
* Control placement slightly uncomfortable
Little Acorns is an iOS side-scrolling game from Chillingo, and was requested by Andy Gibson through the ‘Request a Review’ section on our homepage. Video game reviews are a specialty for The Unpaid Gamers so keep the requests coming!
Presentation : A
Graphics / Animation / Sound
Little Acorns is a hard book to judge by its cover. Usually title screens for iOS games give you an idea of game content, but you don’t really have a clue until you jump in. Little Acorns have taken the stylistic approach of using unconventional shapes and sizes for the characters in the game. For example, bees, acorns, squirrels and spiders are all square not round. The game has vibrant colors and isn’t cluttered by statistics or unnecessary numbers at the top. It has a simple sleek design of a timer/pause button in the left top corner, and your acorn/fruit (after collecting all acorns) counter in the right top corner. With the only other addition in-game being the controls at the bottom of the screen, you get most of your screen for game-play.
The movements and animations in the game go along with the simplistic style of game-play and let you concentrate on your speedy recovery of your precious acorns.
I like the sound a lot in this game. It is sort of a funk sound track, but is not distracting, which I find in a lot of recent iOS titles. This is the type of game where if you use your headphones it’s a whole different world of sounds. It gives the game a richer feel and I recommend it for the full experience. The sound effects in the game are simple, and again stay true to the light feeling of the game.
Single Player : A
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
Little Acorns is not complicated at all. Get all of the acorns spread out through the levels before time runs out. There is no life bar, and the only way you can die besides the time running out, is to fall in water, which is only present in about half of the levels. Oh, and don’t die, because if you do the game shows a picture of your family crying, and well, seeing squirrels cry is sadder than you think.
If you touch an enemy, or an enemy hits you with a projectile you slow down, though you will recover in a few seconds. This costs you precious seconds and also affects your jumping ability. You control your squirrel by simply using left, right, and jump. The controls work great, and work better than I thought they would. My only complaint is that they are positioned too low on the screen. It seems like the developers didn’t want to obstruct any of the game, which is a great idea, except the positioning is quite uncomfortable. I should note, that i played this on ipad, and perhaps the ergonomics of this title are better on iphone. The problem is when holding up the ipad by the corners, your thumbs then have to point straight down, and this caused some frustration.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IOe70dQmsc]
You are helped through the game by power-ups such as super speed, super jump, and invincibility (known in the game as ‘Tough Nut’). Other than using your power ups, the main attack you have against bad guys is jumping on their heads.
Most of the game requires you to swing from ropes to different levels This adds variety to the game and can either gain or lose a lot of time.
The most fun part of the game is the customization. After collecting all the acorns you have the opportunity to collect five fruits placed throughout the levels. If you do this, you unlock character customization such as mustaches, hats, or special ropes to swing from. Though this is a great incentive, there are only a few of each to unlock.
The game is divided into seasons. Currently there are only three ‘years’ to play through. Since each year has four seasons, and each season has 5 levels, there are only 60 levels to play through. Three of those levels are bosses. In the boss levels, you race them to the finish instead of trying to figure out how to kill them.
The game isn’t too difficult, the later levels do present more of a challenge, but with time bonuses spread through the levels, you usually have more than enough time to finish the level. I died more from falling in the water than time running out. That being said, the game felt fairly short and I beat it in a few hours…though this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
Multiplayer : –
Game mechanics / features / Online features
No multiplayer in the game or two player mode. I would have liked to seen the ability to have multiple player accounts, but hopefully that will come with DLC.
Replay Value : B
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC
There are slots for more levels to come through DLC, and hopefully more bonus content with more customization. With the content the game has now, Little Acorns is really fun to play but not necessarily one that you are going to replay.
Little Acorns is, in a word, awesome. It’s game play is really fun, and really addicting. It’s a short game, but for the price point a game worth owning and playing.
Overall : A
