Game Reviews

Super Fruitfall

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| Super Fruitfall
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Super Fruitfall
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| Super Fruitfall

Is it fair to consistently compare all mobile puzzle games to Bejeweled? Fair or not, is it a reviewing practice that yields fruit? Is that a flimsy pretext to take us onto a review of Super Fruitfall?

I think the answer to all those questions is probably 'yes'.

The truth is that Bejeweled has made such a massive impact on the pocket gaming world that any game which involves matching three items to make them disappear is going to put you in mind of that jewel swapping classic.

Super Fruitfall is to be found hanging from a remote branch of the Bejeweled clone tree, however, as it only takes the vaguest inspiration from the gem switcher. It's a match-three puzzler, yes, but it adds more than a little unique citrus tang to the gameplay.

The screen consists of a fairly small square in the centre, with a frugal selection of fruits scattered about it. Your simple task is to remove the fruits by aligning three identical items either in a row or in an ‘L’ shape.

The real difference between Super Fruitfall and other match three games is that you’ve no direct control over the fruit itself. Normally you’d be allowed to swap the position of adjacent icons, but in this case it’s all down to gravity.

The left and right direction buttons rotate the play area by 90 degrees, which in turn causes the fruit to fall to the bottom of the screen. Up and down also allow you to flip the area by 180 degrees – an apparently insignificant matter that soon becomes a vital aspect to solving Super Fruitfall’s puzzles.

The play area isn’t just an empty square, of course. Each stage is shaped quite intricately to produce mazes, obstacles and other formations designed to baffle you when it comes to spinning the screen around and aligning the fruits.

As the game progresses, these level designs become increasingly intricate and perplexing - often the simplest arrangement of blocks and lines can keep the fruit apart in seemingly impossible ways.

You’ve also got different types of fruit to contend with, which get in between each other to prevent you from aligning combinations. Such remarkable simplicity, as you’ve no doubt already surmised, is immensely addictive, and regardless of how much inspiration it did or didn’t gleam from Bejeweled Super Fruitfall is very much its own success story.

An added game mode really helps keep the game’s already impressive addictiveness lively. Juice Mode focuses on eliminating enough fruits to fill the juice meter before the time runs out, and throws in the opportunity to create lots of combos and to aim for randomly selected super fruits to really help build up high scores.

Finding a downside to Super Fruitfall is almost as tricky as the later levels. Graphically it’s fine, but in no way breaks down any mobile gaming boundaries, though in truth it really doesn’t need to.

Despite it being a fairly lacklustre affair visually, the screen is clear and easy to navigate, and that’ll be far more important to you during play.

One issue with a previous version of this game, Fruitfall, was its lack of a save option. Super Fruitfall has fermented nicely in the 12 months since the last game, and now allows you to continue from any level previously completed, which ensures you won’t tire of the game from sheer repetition.

With so many puzzle games to choose from these days, it’s great to see one that maintains the genre’s necessary simplicity while providing something fresh.

Super Fruitfall

An addictive game that’s as easy to enjoy as it is to pick up. Super Fruitfall corrects the errors of its previous version to keep you playing for hours on end. A few superficial shortcomings don’t really harm the game’s enjoyment in any way, so anyone looking for a bit of meditative puzzling need look no further
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.