Game Reviews

Super Lemonade Factory 2

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Super Lemonade Factory 2

Super Lemonade Factory 2 is a rough and ready sort of a game. It lacks polish, creaking and straining sometimes under the weight of its own ideas. But at the same time that rawness is intoxicating, like a garage band belting out three-chord songs with little precision but a lot of heart.

Sometimes it can lead to frustration, with broken platforms, sudden inexplicable deaths, and strange NPC suicides all occurring during my playthrough. But there's a passion to the game that's almost impossible to dislike, and it's enough to see you through to the bitter and bitty end.

Lemon-aid

Once again the game features two characters, Andre and Liselot. You can swap between them by tapping a button, and they each have skills that you'll need to finish each level. You can also let Andre carry Liselot, which is handy when you're heading to the exit.

Each level is a platforming puzzle, with a variety of characters stomping around intent on knocking you back before you reach the exit door. You might need to use Liselot's double-jump to reach a box, then push it back to Andre so he can clamber up to a previously inaccessible platform.

There are directional buttons to move you left and right, a 'jump' button, and an 'action' button that lets Andre smash through breakable crates. The controls aren't perfect, and sometimes you'll find yourself dead because they didn't pick up your input.

The levels are brighter and bigger than the original, and there's more variety to the backdrops too, with the game taking you from Sydney to New York and finishing on a military base. A story threads through the different sections, but it's tough to follow, and sometimes feels like little more than random snippets of text.

A tiny bit sour

But in spite of all its flaws and inconsistencies, there's still a likeable and enjoyable game here. It might be a little broken, but when it gets things right, Super Lemonade Factory 2 gets them very right.

If it was the finished article, then Super Lemonade Factory 2 would be among the very best platformers on the App Store. As it is it's an engaging curio, an infuriating, sometimes brilliant list of complaints and triumphs.

Super Lemonade Factory 2

A mixed bag of brilliance and frustration, Super Lemonade Factory 2 is still worth a look
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.