Review: I Love Strawberries - Freshly Ripened Fun!
by Allan Curtis
January 18, 2011
Overview
I Love Strawberries is a unique physics based platformer, where you help Box Boy to reach the giant strawberry at the end of each stage. Along the way you avoid spikes, collect smaller strawberries and try to finish each stage in as few jumps as possible.Features
I Love Strawberries features addictive tilt based gameplay, great colorful graphics, catchy music, lots of levels, some funny humor, Facebook integration for posting medals and Game Center achievements.The Good
I Love Strawberries is what Angry Birds would be like if you condensed it into a platformer and removed all the birds. You play as Box Boy, a grey box that can jump. Your goal is to jump your way thought platforms and past hazards to reach the fruity goodness at the end of each stage.
You control Box Boy by tilting your phone to control the trajectory of his jump. You then tap and hold anywhere to set your power and let go to start your leap. These control are very simple and easy to use one handed.
Using these controls, you must navigate a fiendish collection of levels full of tricky platform jumps, bouncy walls, flame jets, lava and spikes. ILS's levels are designed well and it can take quite a few attempts to get that jump exactly right, but it feels great when you do. The game is all about learning how physics affect Box Boy and using walls or other objects to bounce yourself through the stage. Thankfully you can take as many jumps as you need to get to your prize, fewer jumps just increase your chance for gold or silver medals.
Screwing up in ILS is made less frustrating by a good dose of humor that anyone familiar with the internet and memes will appreciate. As you move Box Boy around, he changes facial expressions to become Trollface and EFG from 4chan, the "Derp" and a great number of others.
Achievements in Game Center follow a similar vibe and you can obtain such accolades as "U MAD?!" and "Over 9000!"
ILS is also presented extremely well for a $.99 game. Visuals are vibrant and animation is very smooth. The game never bogs down or looks choppy. Everything is nicely detailed on the small screen as well.
Soundwise, the game is equally well done, featuring very catchy music and a bunch of funny sounds from Box Boy. The game is a treat to both look at and listen to.
