Previews

E3 2011: Hands-on with iPad platformer Fruity Jelly

Play with your food

E3 2011: Hands-on with iPad platformer Fruity Jelly
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| Fruity Jelly

There's no shortage of platformers on Apple's touchscreen tablet, but solid, well-designed games are another story.

Coming in July, Bulkypix’s Fruity Jelly hopes to add some more flavour to the genre. We had a brief hands-on at E3.

At right angles

You play a blue blob made of – wait for it – jelly that has to navigate 40 trap-laden levels. The twist is that you steer the gelatin globule by turning the screen 90 degrees via the two arrow icons.

The levels end up being a test of planning, kind of like Armor Games's cross-platform hit Shift.

The characters, meanwhile, are pitched at a cuteness level somewhere between Nintendo’s Kirby and ngmoco’s Rolando series. Even the enemies, whose primary objectve is to block your path, are adorably drawn, and the levels have a soft, almost pastel feel to them.

Tilt-A-Whirl?

The controls were fine, though it’s still unclear if you will have the option to turn your iPad instead of just tapping the arrow keys.

We look forward to more hands-on time with Fruity Jelly when it arrives on iOS next month.

Damon Brown
Damon Brown
Damon Brown has been speaking the mobile game gospel since 2003 for Playboy, New York Post, and many other outlets. Damon writes books when he isn't busy gaming or Twittering. His most popular book is Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture.