Review: Fuzzies HD
Score:
72%
Polarbit have delivered another HD game into the Ovi Store, and Fuzzies is going to appeal to the smartphone holding puzzle lover, and especially those who prize quick reactions and planning under pressure. Can you capture the red flags and not kill any of the Fuzzies as they explore each level under your guidance?
Version Reviewed: 1.00 (0)
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The Fuzzies of the title are little monkeys, who like any good gaming characters are on an eternal quest – here it’s to grab every single red flag on a level. Once they have their paws on the cloth, a rope descends from a hovering balloon to save them. Why they couldn’t just use the balloon and jump in on a bungee ropes to get the flags isn’t said. In fact they come in at the green flag on a level, and you need to help them through the terrain, past the hazards and towards the red flags.
You don’t have direct control over any of the Fuzzies, they’ll just keep walking till they hit something, and once they do they’ll turn round and walk back in the opposite direction. If they come to a cliff, drop, water or anything else that will cause their death then they’ll go right ahead and die.
So you’re going to need to guide them around the terrain, keeping them safe, and pointing them towards the flags.
To help them through the territories, you can hand individual Fuzzies special powers, such as the ability to dig straight down through the earth (or at an angle). To carve a tunnel through a vertical wall, to build steps to get up to higher ground, or climb walls and roofs like a spider. Just tap on the appropriate power icon on the bottom of the screen (be warned, you have a limited supply, and they are not always all available).
There’s not a lot to control as such – you’re more a director – so what’s provided to you to select the powers and apply them is the perfect use of a touch screen. Down the side you have icons to pause the action, speed it up (if you have it solved and just need the Fuzzies to work the plan) or quit the level.
The graphics are clear and remain pretty understandable as the levels progress (they can get quite complex, and you’ll be darting around the screen with different groups of Fuzzies under your wandering eye.
If they could, I’d like Polarbit to consider a zoom control, using the pinch gesture. Dragging to scroll is easy enough, but it would be nice to get both an overview of the larger levels while also addressing the issue of areas getting rather busy, with Fuzzies stuck down a mineshaft you’ve dug, for example.
A quick call out for the music, Polarbit have a great little soundtrack on this, and they also ask when the app switches on if you want the sounds to be on or off. A nice touch to save potential embarrassment.
With 28 levels, there’s a lot of gameplay in here, even discounting the first few levels that introduce each power and feel more like training levels. Throw in a star rating for how stylishly you complete each level and you’ve just about got the replay value that a game like this needs.
While I doubt you’ll want to keep coming back to different levels, I think many people will be happy to replay a level at the time they finish it to up the star ratings. And at such a good price for a polished game with great graphics and a nice learning curve up to a solid challenge, Fuzzies is another value for money slice of fun from Polarbit.
And only now, at the end of the review, will I say... Lemmings.
-- Ewan Spence, Jan 2010.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at