"Juiced!" is a fun nostalgia-evoking retro platformer that has a very charming handmade feel to it. A few levels in, and I could instantly tell that whoever made this game had a genuine love for old platformer games of the 90s era. But make no mistake, the nostalgia factor is not the game's only strong point. It absolutely shines in nearly every department: gameplay, controls, enemy & character design, puzzles, level design storytelling, writing etc.
[b]STORY[/b]
The story basically revolves around 3 magic crystals that bestow great power on whoever possesses them. The hero of the game, a little pink creature, needs to find them before the bad guy does. The details of "who", "why", "what" and "where" are conveyed through in-game cutscenes, which IMO are pretty well written and serve as welcome breaks between levels. I won't cover the details of the story in this review but I'll say that each time a cutscene came on, I'd refill my coffee and just sit back and enjoy the show because I found them to be well written and funny.
[b]CONTROLS[/b]
In short, the controls are super smooth. The hero can fluidly run around, jump, climb, swing and skate. The game requires you to perform some crazy acrobatics and the controls are finely tuned to help you do just that.
[b]LEVEL DESIGN[/b]
The adventure takes place across a variety of environments: a desert, a pyramid, a jungle, a city, a haunted mansion, a snowy mountain, a spooky forest, a factory, the seafloor, a pirate ship, a volcano etc. Each world is split up into a number of smaller levels or sections. In some sections, the focus is on normal platforming and fighting enemies (like in Mario). You'll also need to find keys or tools that will enable you to access high areas: magic seeds that sprout giant plants that you can climb, spring boards that let you jump higher, anvils that when dropped on a see-saw sends you flying upwards etc. In other sections, you will be required to solve puzzles in which switches and machinery need to be correctly activated before you can proceed.
In addition to the all this, there are special levels where the gameplay format is changed a bit: "chase" levels in which you need to outrun a giant boss and vehicle levels in which you control a hovercraft, a glider, a submarine and a surfboard! These variations in level design really keep the game feeling fresh from start to finish.
[b]ENEMY DESIGN[/b]
Each world has it's own unique enemy types. For example, the factory has robotic enemies; the haunted areas have witches and ghosts; the desert has mummies, scorpions and guys on flying carpets; the jungle has insects and tribals, the pirate ship has....pirates and their pet parrots, and so on. Clearly, a lot of thought was put into designing the enemies to match the levels they appear in.
[b]BOSS DESIGNS[/b]
The bosses are very creatively designed. The most memorable ones (to me at least) are a witch, an evil pharaoh, a pirate, a gigantic fish and a devil! Bosses can be be defeated with only a few hits. It sounds easy, but the thing is, they become vulnerable to attacks only at certain intervals during the fight. And you'll need to dodge their attacks for a while before you get a chance to strike them!
[b]POWER UPS AND WEAPONS[/b]
You'll get a variety of power ups in the game: throwable weapons, explosives, health refills, forcefields etc. They can be usually obtained from vending machines found in the levels. Ammo for throwable weapons are limited and must be used very judiciosly. The most powerful powerup is temporary invincibility + the ability to incinerate any enemy that you come in touch with. This power is acquired if you collect enough fruit.
[b]VISUALS[/b]
While the game utilizes pixel graphics, the visuals have a nice hand-drawn feel to them. I'll admit that I initially felt that the graphics and UI were a little rough around the edges but once I got into the game, I just accepted it as part of the game's presentation style (and I mean it in a good way), after all it does seem to be inspired by 90s era platformers.
[b]MUSIC AND SOUND[/b]
Music : Music tracks are fine and enjoyable. However, I played much of the game with the music muted because I wanted to concentrate on the game, especially the more complex puzzle sections.
SFX: Good.
[b]FINAL THOUGHTS[/b]
All in all, I'd describe Juiced! as a very wholesome platformer that people of all ages can enjoy. But it would feel even more special to those who grew up in the 90s playing platformers on DOS and the classic Nintendo systems. Needless to say, this game time-warped me back into my childhood! If you're a fan of platformers then this game is a must have for your collection. Highly recommended!
(End of Review)
