Leo can jump and inflate himself to slowly glide through the air.
However, it’s what you do in those environments that makes Leo’s Fortune fun, as the levels bounce between precise platforming tests and puzzle-solving scenarios. It’s a strange juxtaposition of visual elements that clicks before long. As you’ll soon discover, the real beauty comes not from Leo himself, but rather his surroundings, which dazzle with impressive texture work and tiny details. Let’s be honest: he looks downright dopey. His fluffy body is barely animated as he collects coins and glides along curved paths that loop up walls, soars on wind gusts, and dives deep underwater. In fact, it’s what turned me off of the game at first. Leo’s Fortune shares the tale of an old man and his stolen gold-only the man looks like a cat toy with a comically oversized mustache affixed. You’ll often float through tight pathways lined with thorns and other nasty hazards. Created solely for touch screens, it’s a smart mobile take on the platform genre that’s fun, seriously slick, and quite challenging to boot. Without the firm touch of real, honest-to-god physical buttons, even the best sidescrollers (like the updated Sonic retro ports) are hard to control. Thankfully, Leo’s Fortune ($5) doesn’t have those concerns. But think about it: do you really want to play Mario on a smartphone? Platform-hopping games usually stink on touchscreens. Gamers often bitch about how Nintendo is out of touch for not making mobile versions of its hit franchises.
Don’t get suckered into a “free” game that’s not really free-support great games by paying a fair price upfront!
Each week, we’ll highlight a game that costs $3 or more, but is worth every penny. But with a premium price often comes a premium experience. The only downside of finishing the game is that you'll undoubtedly be hungry for more almost immediately.With so many free and cheap Android games, it’s tough to take the risk on a game that costs even a few dollars. There are no in-app purchases, bonuses, or other nonsense to worry about, so the US$4.99 price tag is well justified. The game features 19 main story levels spread across a handful of chapters, along with additional bonus levels which can be unlocked based on your performance. Small touches like Leo's occasional mumbles and the faux-3D effect created as blurry objects pass close by the camera add to the atmosphere and create a world that you'll enjoy spending time in, even if you die a dozen times on the way to the exit. As you breeze through the world you'll often be tempted to stop and stare, or perhaps even take a screenshot for posterity. Everything in the world is rendered with almost absurd detail. These mechanics are very easy to grasp and the game ends up feeling like a cross between Sonic The Hedgehog and LocoRoco, but the real star of the show is the stunning graphics. The corridors and open areas you move through are filled with hazards like spikes and huge pits, as well as physics puzzles you must solve in order to proceed. The controls are simple: Your left thumb controls the direction Leo moves and your right thumb prompts him to either puff up, which provides a boost upwards, or slam your body downwards.
Cut scenes and gameplay are punctuated by fantastic voice acting and story sequences that are so well done you'll forget you're playing an app. As Leo, you embark on a journey to find your treasure. His gold has been stolen and the prime suspects are his own relatives. In Leo's Fortune you control Leo, a small fluff ball with an eastern European accent and a grudge. In that respect, Leo's Fortune is a lot like most platformers on the App Store, but what most other games can't hold a candle to is the game's wealth of personality and jaw-dropping visuals. Everyone knows how to play a platform-style game you move in one direction and avoid the things that can kill you.