Leo's Fortune is a masterpiece. That is all you need to know, now onto the AppStore. Oh, you're still here? OK...
Leo's Fortune is an iOS sidescrolling platforming game with simple controls and mechanics, but combined with the beautiful artsyle and engaging story, it becomes something special. You've probably played a game like Leo's Fortune in the past, maybe you've played Gish on PC or Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack from Drinkbox Studios. But if you haven't, well, the gameplay video explains it in detail.
So you play as the rich Leo known by many names such as Leopold, the Golden or the Fortunate. Something bad has happened, someone has stolen Leo's Fortune so he must embark on an adventure to collect all the gold and find the culprit. This journey of his takes him across jungles, decrepit cities, deserts and industrial factories all filled with all sorts of dangers. The story is intriguing and powerful enough to deliver a harsh truth regarding someones fortune, how far would they go to protect and increase it while losing things far more important than a few gold coins. It's a game that makes you think and I like that!
The gameplay is easy to understand. You move Leo left or right and he has the ability to jump, float and execute ground pound. There are a total of 20 levels to go through and each one is kinda unique. Apart from the standard running and jumping, you'll also have to solve clever physics puzzles that range from press the button to use your body as a lever to open something. When you really think about it, as I said, you've probably played a game like this, but the perfect execution of everything make this game truly unique. The controls are responsive although the touch based one, where half the screen is used for movement and the other half for actions need a little fixing or calibrating. Once you press the left side of the screen and drag your finger to move Leo, the game doesn't create a fixed temporary virtual joystick, but moves with your finger. So some of the times when you need to be extremely precise with the movement speed since it uses drag, this "problem" makes things harder. But it's just a minor complain since you can play the game using virtual permanent buttons which work.
Apart from the main 20 levels, there are 4 more levels, bonus one you have to unlock by earning stars on the main levels. And in these levels you can clearly see that here the devs are just having fun with challenges like a race or a time trial which are very enjoyable and I wish there were more. Who knows maybe when the game releases on the PS4 or Xbox One we might get more content. Also after you finish the game, a hardcore mode is unlocked where you get only one life per level, if you die you have to restart from the beginning. The main levels will take you 1 to 2 hours to complete depending on how good you are, plus the bonus ones and the hardcore mode, yes Leo's Fortune might be short, but it's well worth it!
Oh did I mention that Leo is a ball of blue-greenish fur with a badass mustache speaking English with a badass Russian accent? Did I also forget to mention that this is probably one of the most visually striking iOS games ever to hit the AppStore? Everything looks gorgeous, from the hand drawn backgrounds and the level themselves to the incredible lighting effects to Leo's character model and his animations. Audio wise, the game sounds incredible with a fantastic musical score, sound effects and really good voice work. Also it runs at an incredibly smooth frame rate even in older hardware like the 4S.
Bottom Line
Leo's Fortune is an incredible experience with an engaging story, interesting character, clever design and an astonishing artstyle that is well worth it's 4,99$ price. It definitely needs to be on every iOS device out there! Thanks for reading
