Little Acorns - Review

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 22 February 2012 / 3,277 Views

The gameplay on offer here is of the nutmost quality - alright alright, I will stop with the cheap puns before you lose the will to live - and I was particularly impressed by the tight controls. I’ve often found that the more complex iOS games, i.e. a game that requires you to do more than just tap one finger, have mediocre to downright terrible controls. I can confidently say that this is not the case with Little Acorns. You control your acorn-seeking squirrel by using three on-screen buttons; left, right and jump. The controls are kept simple and they are very responsive, which is exactly what you want from a platformer.

There are 60 levels for you to beat, with each level offering 3 types of challenge; the mandatory acorn collection challenge and the optional fruit collection and speed run challenges. All of the levels are good, and I never found myself becoming bored or overly frustrated. Unfortunately, though, the levels aren’t all that memorable or challenging. You see, I got through all of the levels in less than 2 hours. Granted, I haven’t completed all of the speed runs on offer, or collected the fruit on every level, but unless you're a completionist you won’t feel compelled to revisit levels to do these things. This leaves the game feeling a little on the short side.

Graphically there isn’t much more to say other than the game looks great. The cute, quirky visuals all give the game a certain charm that you can’t help but like. Couple that with a funky soundtrack, and you're on to a winner. As you would expect from any good platformer, the game performs very well. I never encountered any performance issues of any kind, even during the more complex sections of gameplay. As well as this, the menus are simple and easy on the eyes; you should be able to navigate your way around them without any difficulty.

Little Acorns will set you back £0.69 in the UK and $0.99 in the US. If you're a fan of platformers then I wholly recommend this game. It is a polished little title that has a certain charm and works well with the pick up and play nature of the iDevice. It certainly won’t be the longest or the most challenging platformer you will ever play, but it offers a fun experience even if it doesn’t break the mould.

Your fellow woodland critters have taken you for a fool and stolen your precious nuts. Now it’s your mission to get them back. That pretty much sums up what Little Acorns, a new iOS platformer from Chillingo, is all about. Let’s be honest, there are only two questions on your mind right now: should you be going nuts over this game, and how many nut related puns can I fit in this review? Well, let’s see shall we?

The gameplay on offer here is of the nutmost quality - alright alright, I will stop with the cheap puns before you lose the will to live - and I was particularly impressed by the tight controls. I’ve often found that the more complex iOS games, i.e. a game that requires you to do more than just tap one finger, have mediocre to downright terrible controls. I can confidently say that this is not the case with Little Acorns. You control your acorn-seeking squirrel by using three on-screen buttons; left, right and jump. The controls are kept simple and they are very responsive, which is exactly what you want from a platformer.

This review is based on the launch copy of Little Acorns, provided by the developer and downloaded via the App Store.