Nutty Fluffies Rollercoaster Review

By , on November 1, 2012


Nutty Fluffies Rollercoaster
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Genre: Action
  • Released: 1 Nov, 2012
  • Size: 142.2 MB
  • Price: $1.99
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Fun physics gameplay; not quite a puzzle, but you'll still need to think your way through its stages.
  • Replaying levels brings its own rewards; higher point caps and higher difficulty to offset the rewards.

CONS

  • Coin-based unlocks act more as a stop-gap for the lack of content than as incentives to replay stages; forces players in to pointless busy-work.
  • Physics quirks can be touchy to deal with at times; sometimes it all goes fine... but other times...

VERDICT

Nutty Fluffies is simply fun to play thanks to its strangely intuitive physics that make it easy to almost 'think' your way through its challenging stages.


  • Full Review
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There's something about the iOS platform and roller-coasters that just seems to 'work'. Be it tilting to keep passengers inside or flicking to avoid animals on a rampage, there's an almost innate reaction to the peril suffered by those locked on the rails that makes you want to save them. RedLynx goes one further and packs their coasters with cute stuffed animals, though it's hard to say whether the squeaking passengers help or hinder in this regard.

Still, this isn't the company's first coaster title and it shows - the simple act of flicking back and forth and watching the coaster lurch forward or backward feels incredibly smooth. The longer the train and the heavier the passengers, the more you'll have to fine-tune your actions, often needing to preemptively brake or speed up to ensure the winding-snake of carts doesn't fold in on itself.

Ultimately your goal is to make it to the end safely - with or without all of your passengers in tow. Hearts litter the track and different passengers will award bonus hearts for catering to their particular needs - cats love to go downhill; dogs love to remain airborne; elephants love either one of these; and pigs don't mind it when things get rough. Upon completion a new cart is added to the same track, allowing the player to earn higher scores; collect all the hearts; and convert all of these in to coins.

The coins act as a sort of barrier to new content. It's easy enough to finish a stage with the four carts you're initially given (be it a rickety wooden one; a jet-powered one; or even a magnetic one), but you'll not earn many coins in the process. Furthermore adding specific 'fluffies' to the cart also costs coins; should they fall off while on the ride you'll need to fill the seat again on replay, but often the reward justifies the expense.

Unfortunately the amount of coins you earn can be incredibly inconsistent as some stages only net a small profit, while others can be cash-cows. Learning which ones to exploit becomes necessary to making any progress after the second set of stages, bringing the momentum of the title to a grinding halt. 'Missions' provide coin boosts that can help to move things along, but the simple act of needing to grind your way to new content is distasteful in the first place.

Aside from this there are a handful of small physics quirks that can be overcome with caution (notably magnetic tracks can result in weirdly 'springy' carts that fling around wildly).

Nutty Fluffies is simple, care-free fun. Mastering each of the insanely dangerous rides isn't always easy - especially as each attempt brings new challenges to the table - ensuring a great amount of replayability and taking the sting out of its coin-based level unlocks.

Screenshots

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