Developer: BulkyPix
Price: $3.99
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPad 2
iOS has become a shrine to genres that were victims of being lost in the shuffle of gaming generations. One such franchise that has gone widely unappreciated is Lemmings. Untouched since 2000, it was only a matter of time before either the brand was revived or the core conceit of the title was copied. Unfortunately a new Lemmings game is probably not in the works, but thankfully a new release, Save The Furries, ushers the core mechanics onto a new platform. Does it guide players to success or leave them aimlessly sauntering off of a cliff?
Though “Furries” many be frowned upon in many social circles and dark recesses of the Internet, in this game’s case they are simple creatures in need of guidance. Born with an IQ roughly on par with a can of split pea soup, these critters will continue walking forward until either they reach safety or somehow meet an untimely demise. It is the player’s job to prevent that from happening by interacting with the environment to clear their way.
Each set of stages comprises a planet that has a fresh batch of furries to be rescued. Clearing each stage of all these imaginary beasts will make way for progression to the next stage and encountering of new obstacles. Using the touch screen interface, several items should be able to be moved, stretched or launched in a way that aid in a stages completion. However, the process to come to such realizations may take a process of trial and error. Fortunately things seem straightforward enough that it shouldn’t exhaust the player’s patience to conduct an exercise more than once.
Every environment in the game, as well as the furries themselves, is fully rendered three dimensional characters. This is a level of polish and charm that is rarely afforded to physics puzzlers of this variety. When you mix in a character design that harkens back to Ubisoft’s Raving Rabbids franchise, this could be a recipe for success that would appeal to the whole family.
Despite the guiding god style of gameplay being long ignored, Save The Furries makes a good step towards showing that the genre is still alive and well. As long and consumers can get past the game’s hefty $3.99 pricetag, there is quite a bit to love in this planetary puzzler. There’s also an iPhone version as well.