Soosiz Review

When playing Soosiz for the first time you can’t help but get that feeling that you are back on your beanbag sitting at home playing Super Mario Bros. for the first time.  Soosiz is a simple platformer in theory but when executed creates a masterpiece.

It all starts with a simple story…  Small round creatures are living peacefully in a magical wood when…a large “evil” disrupts their happy living and scatters the creatures ruining the entire world.  Only one of these creatures survives (YOU) and must venture out to save his friends.

Graphics

The graphics are great in their own simplistic way.  Everything is bubbly and rounded with vivid colors to brighten the environments.  Reminds me of another game…Yoshi’s Story anyone?  The art style adds to the overall feeling of cuteness that you should get anytime you are saving little creatures from an “evil” one.

Gameplay

The gameplay consists, like most platformers, of playing through the levels to reach the end.  Along the way you will find other small creatures that you must save.  You can beat the level without gathering these friends as this more so serves to rate your success similar to stars that you achieve in other games.  For the most part you leap from platform to platform many of which are circular.  Each platform has its own gravity to draw the player to itself.  Therefore, you find yourself in some cases jumping up in hopes to gravitate toward another circle.  This is similar to what Mario Galaxy would be like if it was in 2D.  You will find certain creatures that can add to your ability in the level as well.  For instance there is one creature that has a Rambo style headband on which when found will allow your character to jump higher…obviously used to reach places that would otherwise be just out of your reach.  This creates some challenging gameplay that will take a little time and thought to conquer.

Controls

There is not much to talk about here.  You have a left and right arrow on the left side of the screen and a jump button on the right side.  You also have an hourglass that when taped pans out so that you can view more of the level (you will need this occasionally to know when to take a leap of faith to reach that last little creature that you have been missing).  That is it.  Four buttons…but in this case fewer is definitely better.  I did not feel like the controls were taking up screen space as I do in many other games and I also never found myself wanting anything else.

Presentation/Sound

The opening menu is a little disappointing but only because the level menu was wonderfully made.  The rest of the menu system is quite appealing and only adds the warm and fuzzys that the music will give you.  The music fits the game perfectly, giving a light, excited feel to the presentation.

Performance

No performance issues were noticed.  No lag or crashes ever.

Value

The price currently is $1.99 in the app store, and for getting 66 total levels across 7 different worlds each with its own unique boss you are getting quite a bit.  I would definitely encourage any of the classic 2D platformer fans to pick this one up because you will definitely feel at home here.

Conclusion

Soosiz is a cute, simplistic, and highly enjoyable classic platformer.  If you liked any of the Super Mario, Yoshi’s Story, or Mario Galaxy games then you will love this.  It is not action packed and will not bring you to the edge of any seat, but succeeds at what it is…a challenging yet simple platformer.