Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo

by Neal Ronaghan - April 18, 2013, 9:46 am PDT
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Des milliers de records sur toutes les plateformes: consoles de salon et portables, PC, oldies.

No need to wait for the Championship Edition.

Platformers are usually a hardgenre to get right. A character's jump, the way they feel, and theway physics affect them can make or break an experience. Super LittleAcorns 3D Turbo, an enhanced 3DS version of a mobile game, more orless nails the tight control that most platformers require. Mr.Nibbles, the square-ish squirrel protagonist, jumps and moves the wayhe should through 90 levels packed with acorns, enemies, andfruit.

The primary mode consists ofthree “years” with 20 levels each. Those years are broken up intofour seasons, with a boss race closing out each year. The goal ofeach level is to collect all the acorns, which opens up the exit.You're up against a strict time limit, but if you just go for thebasic goal, the time isn't very restrictive. However, three optionalgoals, which focus on speed running, enemy destruction, and fruitcollecting, give you more variety in each stage. Because of thenature of those goals, unless you're a total wunderkind, you have toplay each level at least twice for 100% completion. Basically, you'renot going to be able to defeat every enemy and collect every itemwhile successfully completing the level in a short amount of time.Fortunately, Little Acorns is really fun and the levels are short andfocused, so replaying stages does not feel laborious.

In the beginning of the game,Mr. Nibbles can only jump, which can be used to defeat enemies if helands on their heads. Soon, the ability to grapple becomes a majorfocus. By hooking up to designated points, you can swing around,building up momentum and reaching new heights. Additionally, avariety of power-ups litter the stages, ranging from invincibility tosuper speed. The difficulty curve in the game is excellent, as itstarts off very easy but ramps up the challenge so that, by year two,you might start having to figure out entertaining tricks to completethe goals.

Outside of the main mode, 30challenge stages deliver straightforward, difficult segments that aresomewhat reminiscent of New Super Mario Bros. U's challenges. In oneof them, you will be outrunning rising water, while in another, youhave to break through walls as quickly as you can. Since the focus ismore on completion than completing secondary goals, these levels area nice change of pace. However, they still have most of the optionalgoals that the main levels include.

As you complete differentgoals in every part of the game, you add to an overall pool of acornsthat unlocks content. Most of the unlocked content is comprised ofdifferent costumes, so you can make your squirrel look like adignified gentleman with a top hat and a mustache, among otheroutfits. The unlockable “Turbo” mode, which is a silly referenceto old Street Fighter games, speeds up the entire game. That wasn'tcompelling enough to warrant a second playthrough, as it is nothingmore than the same game, but faster. You also have a laundry list ofachievements to complete.

Super Little Acorns 3D Turbois a fun 3DS eShop title. It's not quite the cream of the crop on thedownload platforms, but as a platformer, it is fantastic and worthchecking out. It is a polished, amusing title from start tofinish.

Summary

Pros

• Constant stream of unlockables
• Fun mechanics
• Nice difficulty curve

Cons

• Forced replaying of levels for completion
• Turbo mode is repetitive

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